The Avatar And The Phoenix
by typhoonboom08
Summary: A creature made of cosmic flames arises in Aang's world and when they clash, they are both sent to another world. Alone, in a new world, he's taken in by the Possibles only to travel the world with Tim and new allies to save the beast's new host, Jim
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **This story will eventually include characters from Avatar, Kim Possible, X Men Evolution, American Dragon and Ubos, Ultimate Book of Spells (which is like a cartoon version of Harry Potter for those who don't know it).

**Disclaimer:** Clearly, I don't own any of these shows. If I did, this would be a cartoon on TV, not a fanfic

* * *

><p><strong>Rise of the Cosmic Creature<strong>

Aang yawned widely as he flopped onto the bed of sheep wool, snuggling into it as his eyelids closed. Being awake so long and being so overstressed had done a number on him. he'd almost gone insane, though he knew it even as it was happening. Fortunately, his friends, his family, had manage to calm his worries. They were confident that he could defeat the Fire Lord tomorrow during the eclipse. There wasn't a single doubt in any of their minds, despite how sceptic Sokka tended to be. If they believed that much in him, despite all they'd seen, then he had nothing to fear.

Katara couldn't help the warm, loving smile crossing her face as she watched Aang finally fall into a peaceful sleep. He'd been a wreck, if he hadn't finally gone to sleep, he would have completely fallen apart. She couldn't bear seeing him upset or disappointed, so his behaviour had definitely trouble her. Like Toph and Sokka, she found it a great relief that he'd finally let go of his fears as they too settled down for what would be their greatest battle yet the next day.

...

However, fate refused to be kind. For halfway through the night, Aang's dreams changed again. He was enjoying watching himself defeating a pant less Fire Lord when suddenly the whole fantasy started to fade.

"Huh? What's going on?" He cried as all that remained disappeared. Looking around, he found himself suddenly floating in a dull sky, clouds scattered around the area, but no ground in sight. "Strange. This is like the times that.."

"I brought you within your mind to converse." A soft, wise voice ended for him, drawing his attention upward. A small grin crossed his lips as the glowing dragon spirit of Fang descended towards him. However, it turned into a frown as the dragon's descent brought him face to face with grave looking elderly man in a very formal robe: Avatar Roku.

"Roku! It hasn't been that long since we last spoke. But you look far more worried this time around." Aang commented, taking a deep breath to calm his suddenly rising nerves. Roku had looked sad before, but he was genuinely confident that Aang could handle whatever was going on. Not sure he wanted to know what was going on, he continued anyway, though clearly hesitantly. "What's going on?"

"Aang, I fear that I must tell you that the Fire Lord has become an insignificance." Roku started, earning a loud, disbelieving gasp from Aang.

"WHAT?" Aang interrupted, his panic and disbelief growing quickly. It wasn't possible that Roku actually meant that! The Fire Lord was the cause of the entire war. Taking him down was the only way to end it. "I can't believe this. What could possibly make the Fire Lord a mere insignificance?"

"A creature that has not been seen in our world for millennia." Roku answered solemnly, shutting his eyes before opening them to reveal something that scared Aang to the core. Deep fear. "Long ago, before the beginning of the Avatar cycle, or even the first human elemental benders, a creature of unimaginable cosmic power descended upon the planet, destroying everything it came across. Nothing, not even the strongest spirits could stop it. The elements meant nothing to it; no one could find its weakness. It reduced half the world to rubble before one day it just disappeared and never returned, with no one knowing why. Those who were left rebuilt and restored their homes and the world eventually, though slowly, recovered and forgot it ever happened. But now, the ancient spirits have felt its power re-emerging into the world. When it does, the Fire Lord will be at its non-existent mercy, just as you and everyone else will be."

"No way." Aang muttered, hyperventilating. He just couldn't believe it. A creature with the power to destroy everything in its path? Dragons, flying bison, badger moles, they'd all been around and even they didn't stand a chance. It was impossible! And yet...despite what Aang told himself, despite what he wanted to believe, he knew Roku was right. And if this was coming back... "So what do I do Roku? How do I stop this?" He asked hesitantly, visibly shaking with fear.

"I'm afraid Aang, that even you don't have the power to stop it." Roku said sadly, shaking his head, resulting in a loud gasp as Aang's eyes widened larger than ever before. "This creature is made of cosmic flames. Despite it being a type of fire, no fire bender can manipulate it even slightly and even if you could, you cannot harm it with fire. It exists quite sustainably even under the sea, meaning water is also useless. It's body is pure cosmic power, so there are no body parts to wound. Simply put it is invincible. No one ever discovered even the slightest of weaknesses."

"Then what do I do?" Aang cried, exasperation, anxiety and fear all mixing in his voice as it grew louder. "Crawl into a hole and hope for it to blow over and disappear again? I can't do that Roku! Countless innocent people will die! They don't deserve that, and I've failed them too many times already. I have to do something to save them."

"No Aang." Roku sighed, watching on sadly as he watched the boy fall into desperation and despair. "Save those nearest to you, take them with you, but you must avoid this creature. If the creature does disappear before everything is gone again, the Avatar will be needed more than ever to restore balance. If you die, you will not be here when the world could truly use your powers. Plus, with what is about to occur, it may very well break the Avatar's cycle if you do die and the world will fall completely. No Aang. Save your friends, both those with you and those coming. Take them into hiding quickly, for the Phoenix shall rise today." With that, Roku's body faded away.

"Roku? ROKU! Wait, come back!" Aang cried, throwing his hand out towards his past life. However, instead of grabbing hold of the former Avatar's robe, he found himself sitting up and grasping at the cool, morning air.

"Aang, what's going on?" Toph groaned groggily, rubbing her head as she sat up. Aang turned sheepish as he realised that he woke everyone up again, Katara already on her feet and Sokka sitting up, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Sorry guys." He sighed, lowering his arm before wiping away the eye crust irritating his eyes.

"Don't tell me you're still having nightmares." Katara exclaimed, not sure if the urge to face palm herself or comfort him was the stronger one.

"At least he made through to the morning this time." Sokka mumbled between yawns. "That got rid of the shadows under his eyes."

"No, it wasn't a nightmare guys. Though, I really wish it was." Aang muttered, curling into a ball as his friends moved closer to him, even Sokka suddenly very worried at that statement. "I was having a good and funny dream, but then Roku came to me again."

"So? He usually gives you good advice and helps you continue on your journey doesn't he?" Toph asked, clearly confused by his mood. "What did he say?"

"To forget the invasion plan and find a hole in the ground to hide away in. That today a power will appear that end the Fire Lord and everyone and everything else along with him." Aang muttered moodily. Still curled up, he never saw his friends freeze in their tracks.

"What? That's crazy! What do you mean everything will be ended?" Sokka cried, his eyes wide and his face paling as he panicked, throwing his arms around wildly.

"He called it the Phoenix." Aang answered shakily, finally looking up to reveal his tears. "A creature made of cosmic flames that's immune to every element that attacked in ancient times." Taking a deep, calming breath, he told them everything Roku had told him. Needless to say, all of them had turned as white as a sheet by the time he had finished. As he got to the end, Sokka turned his eyes skyward for a moment...before they rolled back into his head and he fell back in a dead faint.

"You know, strangely enough, I envy his condition." Toph muttered, falling onto the ground herself. "Then at least I could escape this for a while. A creature that outmatches even the Avatar State in power with no invulnerabilities? How do we survive a fight with something like that?"

"Simple, we don't." Aang answered sourly, clenching his fists. "Our only chance of survival is to go deep underground and hope the Phoenix disappears again. It's that or die."

"Then that's what we'll do." Katara said firmly, forcing her fear down as the other two turned to her. "We'll wait for the invasion fleet and take it and all of the food and water supplies we can through an underground tunnel we'll have the earth benders create and seal. We'll leave just enough holes leading to the surface to ensure we don't suffocate, and create enough turns to ensure that no cosmic fire reaches us. Toph, you'll have to start making it now and have the others help you when they get here. Aang and I'll go gather as much drinking water as we can. When we get him to wake up, Sokka can scour the island for edible plants and animals."

"Well then, we better wake him up." Toph stated, trying, and failing, to sound like her usual smart aleck self as she stomped her foot and shook the ground around Sokka. It took a few moments, but the constant pounding to his back and head got him groaning and opening his eyes soon enough.

"Man, I had the craziest dream. Aang told us we were all gonna die at the hands of an oversized, fiery pigeon." Sokka chuckled, flinching as pain shot up his back when he sat up. "Argh, damn Toph, why did you have to do that?"

"Because that wasn't a dream, apparently we're just gonna run and hide twenty or so feet below the surface and we need you to gather up food for a lot of people for a long amount of time." Toph answered shortly, ignoring when Sokka's eye bugged out.

"WHAT? It was REAL? And we're doing WHAT?" He shouted, turning from one of his friends and sister to the next pleadingly, as if begging them to tell him it was only a rather cruel joke. However, their hard, scared and miserable expressions didn't change. "You guys can't be serious!"

"But we are. Now go and start gathering food." Katara snapped, pointing towards the trees as her fear and panic turned to irritation. "I'll send people over to help you when the fleet gets here. Now hurry up, we have no idea when or where this creature is going to surface. It could be right over our heads in two seconds for all we know."

Not sure whether he'd rather take on the rage of a legendary fire bird or his panicking sister, Sokka quickly jumped to his feet and ran, screaming for the sheep to come back. That was only gonna make them run further away, but the others just shrugged and left him to it, heading off for their own jobs.

...

It was definitely harder getting the message across to the invasion fleet as they arrived. They all trusted Aang and the others of course and some, such as Sokka and Katara's father and a few of his men and their favourite, crazy inventor, accepted it immediately after getting over the shock, but others like the swamp people and The Boulder seemed sceptical. Few understood just how the individual Avatars stuck around after their death, seeing as they were all the one soul, and doubted it was more than a dream. It took a long argument to get them to go with it and it didn't end until Roku took over Aang's body for a moment and talked to them himself before they finally accepted it and helped prepare. Fortunately, the fleet had a lot of supplies left, as well as empty barrels and containers to store more water and food. Sokka was particularly thrilled to see the tanks and quickly had the earth benders widen the tunnel they were making to fit them through, intending to use them for the extra protection should something go wrong.

Everything was going well, especially when Mechanist revealed that he'd created an invention that produced light similar enough to the sun to grow vegetables underground. The barrels were all filled and moved carefully down the weaving tunnel, along with all the supplies they could gather, such as fire wood and blankets. It looked like they would be done in time.

However, that changed right as the eclipse started. Aang, Katara and The Duke were gathering a few things that were left behind in the rush, like a few weapons, plates and the like, when the sky darkened. At first it was reassuring. If any firebenders were to find them right now, they'd have no power and easily handled. But just as they got back on deck, an extremely loud, piercing screech that could have only come from a huge bird filled the air. Plates shattered and knick knacks clattered across the deck as the three screamed in pain, their hands flying to their ears in an attempt to dull the sound.

"What was that?" Duke asked nervously, whipping his head left to right to try and find the source.

"It's coming." Aang whispered, his face filled with pure terror as he turned to Katara, her face paling lighter than Aang's. A moment later, all three gasped and screamed as they saw a red flare moving at much higher speed than even a dragon was capable of moving, right towards them. A few seconds later, the distance had decreased so much that the flare could be clearly made out as bird shaped fire. "It's coming here! Go, RUN!" Aang screamed. Throwing up his hands, he created a strong gust of wind and blew his companions to the sure.

"Aang, what are you-"

"Katara, GO!" Aang interrupted, turning desperate eyes to her as the Phoenix closed in. There was no time for them to reach the hole. However, if he could keep it distracted for just a few moments, maybe his friends would still make it and survive. "I'll hold it off, just get The Duke to the tunnel NOW!"

Tears poured freely out of her eyes as she realised just what Aang was planning. But there was nothing she could do. If they all stayed, they'd all die. If they all ran, they'd all die. Aang was the one person on the planet who might be able to hold the Phoenix off long enough for the others to get away. Choking back a sob, Katara jumped to her feet and grabbed Duke before running off, summoning a stream of water to ride on to move faster a second later. _The only chance Aang has to survive is if we get there fast enough and the he can cause the bird a distraction._ She thought, desperately hoping it worked out that way as she glanced back._ Come on Aang._

Taking a deep breath and suppressing his fear, Aang made his body tense and firm before stomping his foot and thrusting his arms up and forward, sending two giant boulders from the ground at the Phoenix' wings. The boulders collided soundly and as they did, Aang couldn't believe his luck. The bird had actually stopped its progress, its head staring down at him. Though it clearly wasn't hurt. Aang got the feeling from the way it lowered its head to him that it was a little surprised that anything would dare to attack it. It did the job though; Katara and Duke had already made it to the tunnel.

However, all good things must come to an end and the Phoenix was quite happy to make it happen. Releasing a war cry, the bird thrust its fiery talon down at Aang. Thinking quick, Aang leapt as high as he could into the air, only for the Phoenix to swing its wing right at him. Eyes widening fearfully, he screamed as he thrust his hands out and created an air blast, flinging himself back. However, though he evaded the actual wing, he was caught off guard and defenceless as fire feathers the size of the average fire blast detached and shot right at him, landing right on his shoulder and hip.

"ARGH!" Screaming and unable to focus, he plummeted back towards the ground fast. Not about to let him go, the Phoenix dived right after him.

"NO!" Katara and Sokka screamed, watching in pure terror beside Toph as they watched from the tunnel entrance. It was only the fact that even their combined power was absolutely useless against the Phoenix and their quickly growing, intense fear that stopped them from running out to save Aang. At this point, they weren't sure what felt worse: the knowledge that Aang was going to die or the fact that if they tried anything they'd do nothing but join him in his fate. As Aang closed in on the ground, the Phoenix closing in on him, Katara couldn't take it anymore and flung herself into her brother, crying hysterically into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, but kept his crying eyes on the boy that had become like a little brother to him, refusing to look away. It would be disrespectful to look away as Aang sacrificed himself so honourably.

His eyes closed, Aang had no clue how far he was from the ground or how close the Phoenix had gotten. He had heard his friends' screams and hoped that they'd get away before the Phoenix noticed them. He hoped his death would be quick and as painless as possible. But mostly he hoped that the world would recover, even without him there to help it.

_I just wish I could save this world before I go._ He thought sadly as his whole body heated up, suggesting that the Phoenix was close. Letting out a defeated sigh, he accepted his fate right as he hit the ground.

However, at that moment, his back collided with a lumpy stone, causing Aang to jerk and arch painfully as a blunt chunk pushed forcefully into his back, right on the scar left from Azula's lightning bolt. Sucking in a deep breath, he was overcome by amazement as a power surged right through him, a power he immediately identified as the cosmic energy of the Avatar State. His eyes and tattoos bursting to light, the energy gathered and exploded around him, surrounding him in a orb of white light just as the two story fire bird collided with him. Katara, Sokka and Toph screamed as they watched on, the flames of the bird all crashing into the earth, sure that Aang was gone. However, the Phoenix released what sounded like a surprised screech as the white orb grew, becoming visible within the flames. For a moment, the shadowed form of Aang could be seen within the orb, amazing the water tribe siblings, before the flames started wrapping around it. A second later, the white ball exploded, forcing the siblings to protect their eyes from the blinding light as the Phoenix gave out one last screech. Then, as quick as it came, it was all gone. Rubbing their eyes, trying to get rid of the white blotches, they looked up to find nothing. No Phoenix. No Aang. No burnt earth strangely enough. It was as if the two beings had never been there at all.

"What? What happened? Where did they go?" Sokka asked, looking around wildly, not sure if he was panicked or relieved that he couldn't find the giant fire bird.

"I don't feel any vibrations, other than ours and everyone in the tunnel." Toph said, looking thoroughly confused. "But I know Aang was still standing over there even after the tremors of fire crashing into the ground started. Then he just disappeared. Like he'd just floated into the air."

"You don't think he was incinerated do you?" Sokka asked, his panic winning as he turned wide eyed to Toph, not noticing the misery his words were causing his sister.

"No, I would know if that happened, even if it occurred quickly." Toph responded, shaking her head. "He just disappeared. Like when he'd just start floating in the Avatar State with no muscle movement to cause it. One second he's there, the next he's not."

"Then he's alive? But where is he?" Katara asked hopefully, standing up straight and looking up into the sky. "Aang? AANG?"

"Katara...he's not here." Sokka said softly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Whatever happened with that explosion, it sent Aang and the fire turkey somewhere else. That doesn't mean he's dead." He added quickly as tears resurfaced in Katara's eyes. "He's just somewhere else. It just means he's not here. We'll find him. And if the fire turkey has him, we'll find a way to take it out while we're at it. I promise."

Looking up into her brother's eyes and finding only reassurance and determination within them, Katara nodded, wiping away her tears. He was right, she knew it. Somehow, Aang was alive and he would be back. It would take a while to find him, she knew that in her heart, but she could wait. Gathering herself as the eclipse ended, Katara followed the others down the tunnel to tell everyone what had happened and to redesign their plans. After all, when Aang returned, he'd need help and a still reparable world if he was going to restore balance. The war was going to continue now that the Phoenix had disappeared too, and they'd missed their chance with the eclipse. It was now up to their rag tag invasion fleet to hold the fire nation at bay. And that was exactly what they'd do until the Avatar returned once more.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Whole New World**

The weather couldn't have been clearer in Middleton. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. And what made it even better to the kids was that it was a Sunday. No school meant lots of fun and the park was full of laughter and flying balls as the kids, both young and old, enjoyed the warm light bathing their skin. And the Possible Twins were no exception.

"Come on, it's not like we use that disruptor anymore. It hasn't been activated since the day we finished it." Jim said exasperatedly, waving a rectangular, blue, electronic device in the air. The pair were sitting under a tree in a secluded area, fiddling with a few of their old inventions. They wanted to make a new laser, but unfortunately they'd run out of parts and were trying to decide what old toys they didn't need anymore.

"True, but who knows when we might need it again. Or do you want to stay permanently under Kim's mind control chips the next time we annoy her?" Tim asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What? She doesn't have them anymore, Mom took them." Jim responded, shaking his head.

_Yeah, like Kim didn't sneak them into her bag before going to college in London._ Tim thought sarcastically, rolling his eyes at his twin.

"Wait, what? She stole them back?" Jim cried right as Tim was about to open his mouth. "I would have thought Mom would've had them destroyed."

"Huh?" Tim gaped, staring dumbstruck at his green and white clad twin. "How did you know that? I didn't say anything yet."

"What?" Jim asked confusedly, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah you did. I heard you clear as day...but your lips weren't moving." He added slowly, his eyes wide in realisation. Somehow, he'd known exactly what his brother was thinking. But how? I mean, sure, they literally spoke the same language, but this was taking twin telepathy a little too far. "Then how the heck did I..."

However, the conversation was quickly forgotten as an explosive flash of red and white light burst to life in the sky before crashing into the ground, the resulting tremors causing the ground to shake so much that the rising twins fell down.

"Whoa, what was that?" Tim shouted, looking back in the crash's direction, only to scream a second later. Heralded by what sounded like the screech of a bird of prey, what looked light red fired burst from whatever had crashed into the ground and was surging like a rocket right at them. Unable to get away in time, the boys screamed again and closed their eyes tight. However, Tim never felt any more than a warming sensation, like a heater was passing by him. Opening his eyes, he stared on in wonder and confusion. No matter where he looked, he couldn't find a single thing that was even singed. It was like the flames never existed. "That was just weird. Who's ever heard of flames that don't burn stuff?" He asked, turning his perplexed face to Jim's. "Are you ok bro?"

"Yeah. Although, for a second there I felt kinda weird. Like something was going in...hey, look!" He cried, pointing towards the crash site. The white ball of light was quickly dulling and a humanoid figure could be seen within. The twins watched on in amazement, ideas of aliens crossing their minds, as the light completely faded. However, instead of seeing a little green man from Mars, they found themselves staring at a boy a little taller than themselves, with dark brown, almost black hair. Although the dominantly black and grey outfit was very unusual, he was still clearly human.

"Wow. Do you think that it was a teleportation device that brought him here or is that he's a mutant? Think he's alright, he's not moving?" Jim asked, quickly switching from excitement to concern halfway through, noticing that the boy didn't look conscious.

"I don't know, but we need to get him out of here before the cops show up." Tim replied, dropping down into the crater next to the boy. "You know after that bang they'll be here soon."

"Yeah, good point. He looks innocent enough." Jim nodded, dropping in on the boy's other side. Each slinging one of the boy's arms over their shoulders, noticing right away that he was a bit light than most people his height should be despite his healthy looking form, they quickly, but carefully carried him off to the other side of the park, stopping only long enough for Jim to grab his back pack and put all of their devices back into it.

...

"Augh! What happened?" Aang's groggy mind couldn't help noting that he'd used the same question when he woke up on the fire nation warship as he scrunched his closed eyelids, the sun causing large red spots behind them.

"Well you see, we were actually hoping that you could tell us." Two nearly identical voices asked simultaneously. Voices that he'd never heard...

Aang's eyes whipped open as the realisation struck him and in his panic, he quickly jumped to his feet, only to groan as the resulting dizzy spell forced him back down.

"Whoa, easy there, you're perfectly safe." The boy in white and green said reassuringly, raising his unarmed hands.

"Just take a few breaths and calm down." The other boy, clad in red and blue continued, his tone and movements perfectly matching his twin's. Aang chuckled at that. He couldn't help it, it was like these two shared a single mind.

Doing as they said, he took a deep breath and relaxed, sighing as his head cleared. Looking up at the boys before him again, his grey eyes frowned confusedly as he took them in. While they were definitely twins, they were dressed very unusual looking clothes and as if they were from different nations, one boy wearing an open green shirt over white one and cream pants, looking like a member of the Earth Kingdom, while the other was wearing a red shirt with white sleeves and blue pants, the colours of the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes respectively. But neither sets of clothes looked like the style of any of the four nations. That made him confused and nervous. Without at least knowing their nationality, he could be in great danger. They could be firebenders, or members of the Dai Li.

_At least my arrows are all covered._ He thought, relief filling him as he rubbed the headband covering his arrow. _I can find out who's side they're on without getting attacked unprepared._

"Do you mind telling me where I am? And how I got here?" Aang asked, looking hopefully from one twin to the other. "Last I checked, I was on an uninhabited island."

"Well, you're now in Middleton Park and you got here inside a ball of white light surrounded by fire." The boy in red answered. "We pulled you away from the crater before anyone else saw you there. Didn't want the cops or any mutant haters giving you a hard time."

"Mutant haters?" Aang asked, staring bewilderedly at the boy. What did he mean by that and why would they hate Aang? Was that some new name of a group of Fire Nation soldiers or something? And while he was on the subject of new names, where in the world was Middleton? He couldn't think of anywhere in the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom with names even close to Middleton. The Air Nomads only placed Northern, through Western before Air Temple and the Water Tribes were either in snow or swamp filled territory. _One thing at a time._ He decided, continuing his first question. "Just who are they?"

"Huh? You know, people who don't like and abuse mutants?" The one in green said with a raised eyebrow, sharing a look with his twin. "The people who either scared or jealous of them because of their powers?"

"Some people attack other people just because they're benders?" Aang cried, everything else forgotten in the face of such a horrid idea. "Even if they were jealous, why? Bending is the basis of all the different cultures."

"Ok, you have completely lost us." The twins said simultaneously, giving each other weird looks, confusion Aang in turn. "Mutant powers aren't important to cultures. The bulk of the world only just found out they even exist less than two years ago." The one in red stated, causing the incredulous look to grow on Aang's face.

"That can't be right. Benders have been well known, dominant power of each of the nations for thousands of years. What nation are we in anyway?" He asked, running his hands through his hair before turning back to the twins.

"The USA. United States of America?" The red one added, noticing the completely lost look on Aang's face. "Are you even from Earth? Or did you come from another planet?" He asked when Aang's look only grew more lost.

"I'm from planet Earth. But I've never heard of any of this." Aang said softly, rubbing his head as a headache started to form. "The nations I know of are the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes and the Air Temples, and everyone with powers was a bender, someone who could bend the element of their nation to their will. Have you ever heard of anything like that?"

"Well, there are some mutants who can create and manipulate an element or two, but other than that, no." The boy in red responded, shaking his head. "It sounds like you're either insane, or from another world."

"One easy way to find out which is right." The one in green stated, looking Aang right in the eye. "Are you one of these benders? Can you show us a power?"

Aang stiffened at that. If he was in the Fire Nation, and this was all some weird trick, then any bending would get him attacked. Airbending was definitely out, as that would alert them that the Avatar was alive. But if this was all real, then he'd need these boy to believe him. if it was all real, he'd either need their help or for them to find someone who could help him understand this world, how he came here and how to go back.

_There's no way of knowing unless I play this along._ He sighed mentally, taking in a deep breath as he made his decision. _Their confusion in what I've been saying looks too genuine for inexperienced kids and neither of them look like soldiers. I think I can trust them._ Nodding his head, he quickly glanced around the area to ensure that no one else was around and stood up.

"Give me a little room." He said firmly, dropping into an unyielding stance. The twins were quick to comply and backed off from him, giving him plenty of leg room. Deciding that earthbending was the best way to go, he stomped his foot hard on the ground and swung his bent arm up before him. The twins gaped and stumbled as a slight tremor in the ground heralded a wall of earth rising with impressive speed right before their eyes.

"I can do a lot more than that." Aang said with a small smile as he turned back to the twins, making the earth wall sink back into the ground with a casual wave of his arm. "But I still have more to learn. My earthbending teacher has said more than once that I'm still a little ways off from being a master. But that being said, she would have to be the greatest earthbender in the world. She's the first person to manage to bend metal by using the earth within it! So of course I'm less impressive in comparison, only having started learning how to do this a few months back."

"Wow, that was so cool!" The green clad boy cried, his smiling face quickly turning back and forth between where the earth rose and Aang stood. "So how did you do the white light and the fire?"

"And what was with those flames anyway?" The boy in red continued right as his brother stopped. "They flew right by and didn't burn a thing."

"The white light was cosmic energy. I'm not sure how it appeared actually." _I thought it was locked up. And I can't feel my connection to it now either._ He added silently, subconsciously rubbing the scar on his back. However, his hand instantly dropped and his face turned terrified as the rest of what they said registered. "Wait, fire? Tell me, was it shaped like a bird? And it actually didn't destroy everything in its path?" He cried, his voice getting louder as he hyperventilated.

"Um, no, it wasn't shaped like a bird. Though we did hear a bird screech as it flew at us." The twin in red said slowly. "And yeah, we felt warm as it reached us, but we weren't burned. Nothing was. The grass was still green and the trees were still standing. Why, what was it?"

"The Phoenix. It was the only fire related thing for miles." Aang said shakily, sitting back down. "A creature made of cosmic flames bent on destroying everything it touches. I was trying to keep it away from my friends before I ended up here. I guess the mixing cosmic energies brought us here. Well, at least my friends are safe."

"But if you're right, then you and here aren't." The boy in green stated a little nervously.

"Maybe, but if it didn't hurt anything when you saw it, and the flames didn't take the form of a bird, maybe however we got here drained it of all its power." Aang suggested. After all, the power it took to come...wherever here was left him exhausted and the Phoenix' body was made solely out of energy. Maybe it used it all up. "Anyway, I can worry about it if it ever shows up again. But I just realised that I haven't introduced myself. I'm Aang. Nice to meet you."

"Oh yeah. I'm Tim and this is Jim." The boy in red responded as the two offered their hands, which Aang happily accepted with a firm handshake each. "Why don't you come home with us? If you're really from a different world, than we want to hear everything about it-"

"And since you would know nothing of our world, we can tell you all about it." Jim continued, again amusing Aang with the near creepy synchronisation. "Our parents won't mind. After all, our dad is a rocket scientist,-"

"He would be really interested in alternate universes." Tim finished.

"Thank you. I could really use the help." Aang nodded, smiling gratefully at the twins. Getting up from the bench, he followed the twins out of the park, thanking the spirits that he'd had the good fortune to meet such caring people.

...

To say that Aang was amazed as they made their way through the streets was the understatement of the century. The twins were quick to deduce that Aang came from a much more traditional and primitive world as he gaped at the cars, motorcycles, street lights, even the cement. It took them a number of times to make Aang understand that their world's machines were powered by non-living energy sources and explain how they worked, most of which went over the overly excited boy's head.

"Amazing. Simply amazing. Those...cars?" He said questioningly, getting nods from the twins. "The only things I've ever seen like them was the Fire Nation's tanks and the Earth Kingdom's trains and they ran on the driver's firebending and earthbending respectively."

"Well, we didn't have the ability to make fire or throw large rocks with the click of our fingers, so we mastered science." Tim responded tiredly. He could understand Aang's excitement and wonder at what he was seeing, after all, Aang might as well be someone from two hundred years ago getting dragged into the present. Hell, he and Jim still got that way sometimes when they first saw a new machine. But he was getting a little tired of going over even the simplest pieces of technology they came across two or three times over. _Still, the bits of knowledge from his world have been interesting so far._ He had to concede.

"Hey look! Mom's already finished shopping." Jim said happily, pointing to the driveway just as Ann Possible picked up one of the last few bags.

"Oh boys, I wasn't expecting you two home until dinner time." She smiled as she stood up. It grew warmer as she turned to face them and found Aang's grey eyes "Oh, hello. I didn't realise that they brought a friend home. I'm Mrs Possible."

"I'm Aang. It's nice to meet you ma'am." Aang responded, smiling right back as he nodded his head.

"Mom, we really need to talk to you and Dad." Tim stated, grabbing a couple of bags from the trunk, his brother doing the same. Aang couldn't help raising his eyebrow as Mrs Possible sighed at that, rubbing her face exasperatedly.

"I don't need a hazmat suit to go near the dryer again do I?" She groaned, leading the way towards the front door, only to stop short of opening it. "Or has the living room been turned into a swamp this time? Please don't tell me that the fire fighters are going to be complaining about yet another cold fusion experiment."

"No, no, we haven't done any knew experiments today." Jim said reassuringly, moving past her and opening the door to prove his point. "It's actually about Aang."

"WHAT?" Mrs Possible cried, dropping the bags in her arms as she spun around, quickly going into doctor mode and checking what skin was visible on him for injuries. "Please don't tell me they used you as a guinea pig!"

"Huh, no, not at all. They've only been helping me." Aang said confusedly, not sure what to make of this. he was suddenly very curious as to what these boys got up to.

"Thank God." Mrs Possible sighed, her relief evident as she bent down to pick up the groceries spilling out of her bags, Aang giving her a hand. "So what is going on exactly? And how are they helping you?"

"I think we should wait until Dad's with us and you're sitting down. It's not a bad story, but it promises to be long and may be hard to believe." Tim butted in, Jim nodding at his side before they ran into the kitchen. Sighing and a little nervous as to what was going on, Ann gave in and followed them, just hoping that she didn't feel the urge to collapse when this was all over.

"Honey, can you come in here please?" She called as she placed the bags on the counter and started putting things away. "The boys say they need to talk to both of us about their friend and I would really like to get this surprise over with so I can get over the disaster sooner."

"What did they do?" Timothy asked, instantly appearing in the doorway. When someone said the twins did something, you tended to move fast.

"Nothing this time Dad." Tim smiled before pointing to Aang. "This is Aang. He's...very lost and you're the best person we can ask to help him."

"Hello there son, I'm Dr James Possible." Dr Possible said warmly, which Aang quickly shook.

"A pleasure to meet you sir." Aang responded, taking the seat Dr Possible offered him.

"So why am I the person you think can help you?" James asked, rubbing his chin as he inspected the boy. "Lost people usually go to the police."

"Not when they crash into the Earth from another dimension in a white ball." Jim exclaimed excitedly, startling his parents.

"What do you mean a white ball? And another dimension?" James asked, his eyebrows rising right up to his hairline.

Feeling much more comfortable in the knowledge that this wasn't a Fire Nation plot, Aang told the Possibles all about his world. The adults were forever growing more amazed while the twins grew more excited as he told them about the four nations and how they came to be. He told them about people of each nation learning how to bend the elements by watching the dragons, sky bison, badger moles and the moon. He told them about the war against the Fire Nation and the Avatar, noting that all four grew much more interested at learning of a being able to control not only all four of the elements, but also be able to connect to the spirit world. And with great hesitancy, he bit the bullet and told them that he was the Avatar, astounding all four of them as he demonstrated his control over air, water and earth, though shying away from the idea of using even the little firebending he knew. As his audience calmed down, he went on to tell them about his life, his friends and the adventures he'd had before finally getting to the part of the Phoenix.

"Everything Roku said about the Phoenix was right." He sighed, staring sadly at the table. "It was far more powerful than anything I could imagine and effortlessly took me down. It was about to kill me when my back injury slammed into a rock and cosmic energy was released from me that mixed with the Phoenix'. The next thing I know, I'm waking up with Jim and Tim in front of me."

"He definitely doesn't know a thing about our world." Tim piped up, feeling the need to back the alternate dimension claim. "Cars, planes, street lights, even concrete was new and amazing to him."

"Well, I wasn't expecting this when I woke up this morning." James commented, running a hand through his hair as he stared sadly at the displaced Avatar. He believed his story, there was no doubt in his mind that it wasn't the work of fiction. Alternate dimensions had definitely been proven real, first by Kim's science partner's interdimensional portal and then by the discovery of mutants a couple of years back, particularly the ones that had been discovered to cross dimensions. And it was clear just what his situation was had just impacted very hardly on Aang. He was stranded in an unknown, strange world while all of his friends were stuck in his, fighting a war that they'd hoped that he'd be able to help end. That being, if the Phoenix wasn't turning everything to rubble as they spoke. He felt for the boy, and his wife clearly did too. It was obvious that she was barely holding back tears, but whether it was his current situation of his life story that caused them, he wasn't sure. Considering how full of tragedy the twelve or thirteen year olds life had been, probably both.

"Is there anything you can do to get him home?" Jim asked, his voice carrying both hope and sadness. Neither he or Tim wanted Aang to leave. Or at least not without taking them to see his world.

"No, I'm sorry Aang." James sighed sadly, giving Aang an apologetic look as tears started falling down the boy's eyes. "Unfortunately, interdimensional portals are extremely tricky. Whether they're created by technology or mutant powers, the dimension they connect to is a factor that has yet to be controlled. I could have a portal created, but it could lead to any one of possibly thousands of dimensions and any place in them. Even if we lucked out and got your world, you could end up coming out in outer space or the heart of a volcano."

"We'll keep an ear out for any possible ways though." Ann said reassuringly, pulling the distraught boy into a comforting hug. "And you can stay with us until we find one. We'll take care of you, I promise." Aang just buried his head into her shoulder and cried as Ann rubbed his back, not stopping until he cried himself to sleep.

As Ann and the twins watched James pick Aang up and carry him to the couch, her thoughts, for the first time ever, were exactly the same as her sons'. Aang needed them and they were going to make him happy again, whether they found him a way back home or not.

...

It wasn't until the smell of cooking food hit his nose that Aang finally woke up. His belly grumbled with desire as the delicious aroma filled his nose and he blindly followed it to find Ann leaning over a large pot on the stove, mixing the food inside.

"That smells really good." Aang said softly, moving closer to the pot.

"Oh Aang, you're awake. How are you feeling honey?" Ann asked, putting down the wooden spoon as she turned to him with a warm smile.

"I'm ok. Well, I'm sad, but there's nothing I can really do about that." Aang muttered, scrunching his face uncomfortably. Nodding understandingly, Ann offered his a damp towel to wipe the tear stains off of his face. "So what are you making ma'am?"

"Just call me Ann, honey." Ann smiled before turning back to the pot. "It's just a nice and easy soup. I didn't want to cook anything special since I don't know any of your possible allergies or preferences. I hope soup sounds good to you."

"As long as I don't get any meat." Aang said a little apologetically. "I'm a vegetarian."

"Oh. Well, that fine, I'll just make sure no meat goes into your bowl. It's chunky enough to find." Ann responded before taste testing the food. "And I'd say it's ready to serve."

"Great, I'm starved." Aang said, his face lighting up. "Do you want any help?"

"No, no, it's fine honey. The boys already got the bowls out and Timothy set up the table." Ann shook her head as she grabbed a bowl and the ladle, checking to ensure no meat went into the bowel as she filled it up. "Here you go. Why don't you just call out to the others and take a seat in the dining room. Everyone will be in there in a second."

"Ok. Thank you ma...Ann." Aang said gratefully, walking towards the door. Not sure where everyone was, Aang took a deep breath and used one of airbending's lesser known powers: soundwave enhancement. "Mr Possible, Jim, Tim, dinner's ready."

Needless to say, no one was expecting a voice shouting as loud as a megaphone to go off inside the house. Ann in particular, being so close, was so startled that she almost knocked the soup pot right over.

"Oops, sorry Ann." Aang said sheepishly as the loud clattering caught his attention. "Guess I should have warned you about that."

"No worries. But yes, a little warning next time I'm up close is a good idea." She sighed, taking a few deep breaths. "But don't do it outside or when we have guests." She added just as the rest of her family rushed in. "It'll mark you as a mutant and I don't want to risk them discriminating you."

"I still need to find out about this mutant thing. Actually, I need to find out about everything in this world." Aang muttered as he turned back to the door.

"We'll explain everything about our world after dinner." Jim promised, following him out of the kitchen before leading him to the dining room when Aang turned a little lost.

Dinner went by quick enough. Aang found a liking to Ann's cooking, making her quite pleased. And after the dishes were emptied and cleaned, the Possibles told Aang everything he'd need to know. They told him about the advancements in technology. They told him about the seven continents and the many countries in most, all of which Aang found quite interesting. But what really caught Aang's attention was the mutants. They told him about the advanced mutant X gene being the source of a possibly limitless number of powers, from elementals like his own, to psychics, to beastly forms. It sounded amazing to him. An enormous variety of powers. He couldn't wait to meet some of them and see what they could do.

But how the world treated them was definitely enough to burst his bubble. The discrimination, harassment and abuse that had occurred in only a couple years of the world in general even knowing that they exist was astounding.

"People turning on other people, even their families, just because they can grow claws and fly? How can people be so heartless?" Aang muttered, frowning at the table.

"People fear mutants because they are more powerful than humans. Whenever humans find a creature that isn't under their control, they tend to try and destroy it. They're a threat to the humans' belief of superiority." James said distastefully, clearly not liking it any more than Aang.

"Others are jealous that they can't do what the mutants can too. And some want to turn mutants into their slaves to use their powers for their own desires. Greed and hate are very powerful and far too common in humanity." Ann added with a sigh.

"I just can't understand it." Aang muttered, creating and fiddling with a ball of air in his hand. "Where I'm from, benders are treated as normal people in their own nations and usually looked on to with wonder by people from the others. No one hates them for having powers that they don't."

"But your society developed along with these bending powers right?" Tim asked. "They've had thousands of years to adapt to them being there and have decided long ago that they are beneficial to your world and cultures."

"Mutants haven't helped develop our world and they've only been discovered very recently." Jim continued where Tim left off. "So people have no idea of just what they're capable of and in their fear and jealousy, expect the worst of them."

"That's just so messed up." Aang groaned, resting his head on the table. "Is anything going to change that? Help these people?"

"Some mutants, like our daughter Kim, are able to blend in easily enough as long as they don't use their powers. Kim actually uses hers openly everyday and no one knows that she's a mutant. Some people help them hide and cover up what they do." James started with a nod. "But the only really noticeable person fighting for mutant rights is Professor Charles Xavier, a mutant who runs a school for mutants. He keeps the children safe and teaches them how to control their powers while also throwing himself into the political debates as a well educated mind, both in politics and the nature of mutant abilities. But of course, as a mutant himself, his...audiences aren't generally very keen to listen to him."

"Oh. So, what can...Kim do?" Aang asked, deciding that it would be best to change the subject before they all became thoroughly depressed.

"Kim has two abilities." Ann responded, understanding his intent instantly. "The first is beyond human flexibility. She can twist her body in ways that would injure, strain or even break the bones of a normal person. The other is mimicry. If she sees someone doing something, from as simple a jump rope to as complex as playing the most difficult song on a piano, she can do it as well as the person she watched did it. Fortunately, she's able to hide it all behind her years as a cheerleader. People just assume that she put in enough work to be a world class gymnast."

"So, are there any other powers in your world besides controlling the four elements?" Jim asked curiously.

"Well, there are the spirits. Their powers vary probably as much as the mutants. But with the humans, all powers lead back to the elements." Aang answered. "Although, each element seems to come with the possibility of another trick or two. Firebenders, if their amazingly skilled, can use lightning. Waterbenders can use the water to bend and regenerate plants and if the full moon's out even use bloodbending. Controlling animals. Humans included. Obviously not many are comfortable with it, taking away someone's free will." He stated, his voice turning distasteful at the idea of such an action. "They can even develop healing powers. Earthbenders have never done anything outside earth before, but my friend and earth teacher, Toph, discovered a way to bend metal. As for airbenders, we can also enhance soundwaves, as you would have noticed earlier."

With that, the topic of powers was put to rest, exchanged for hobbies and adventure stories. Aang listened intently as the Possibles told him of some of the things they'd been dragged into, though admittedly willingly, when Kim went around saving the world, while Jim and Tim begged him to help them fly on the wind sometime. It wasn't until it was very late that the adults decided it was time for the twins to go to bed, having school tomorrow, and offered Aang use of the bath, which he gratefully accepted.

"Um, where does the water come from?" Aang asked, looking around confusedly as he took off his bandanna. "From the tap. Just turn the knobs on either side to the left when it's full enough for you." James stated as he turned the water on and turned around, only to gasp as he saw Aang's forehead. "Whoa, you have a tattoo on your head?"

"Yeah. And down my back and limbs." Aang said slowly, a little confused by the shocked look crossing the man's face. "In the Air temples, you get the arrow tattoos when you become an Airbending master." He added, pulling off his boots and pulling his sleeves up to show off the arrows on his hands and feet.

"Hmm, we'll have to cover them when you go out in public." James muttered before giving Aang an apologetic look when he noticed the confusion on his face. "You see, it's illegal for kids to have tattoos in our world. You could get into trouble. At the very least, you'll draw a lot of attention you probably won't want to yourself."

"I see." He muttered, looking down. He didn't like having to hide his arrows. But it seemed even in this world they could cause too much trouble.

"But we can worry about that tomorrow." James said comfortingly, resting a hand on the upset boy's shoulder. "For now, just get cleaned up. I'll get you some of the boys' clothes to change into and set you up for a good night's sleep."

Nodding, Aang checked the water was warm enough as James left before turning it off as the tub got half full. Placing the change of clothes James brought him on the bench, finished undressing and jumped into the water, sighing as the warm liquid relaxed his sore muscles.

"This world is going to take a lot of getting used to." Aang sighed, closing his eyes as he leaned back. "But I'm stuck here, so I'll have to deal with it. Oh well, at least the people who found me are nice and generous."

...

"The guest bedroom is...currently a danger zone, thanks to my dear boys. So you can stay in Kim's room." Ann said, her tone a mix of exasperation and fondness as she opened the door and led Aang into the room.

"But isn't your daughter going to need it?" Aang asked, picking at the white fabric of his shirt. It felt different to all his old clothes. Not uncomfortable, just unusual. Though, he had to admit, the black flannel pants were really soft and warm.

"Not for a while. She's in London, a city in Europe." Ann responded, shaking her head. "She only just left a couple of weeks ago and won't be back until the Christmas holidays."

"Oh, ok then. Thank you by the way. For taking me in and everything." He said appreciatively, offering her a thankful grin.

"It's no problem at all Aang." Ann smiled, giving him a hug. "I only wish that we can do more for you. Now get some sleep. I'm sure you're tired and tomorrow you and I will go get you some new clothes and essentials. Let you see the world a bit more."

"Alright. Goodnight Ann." Aang nodded, covering his mouth as he yawned and heading over to the bed.

"Goodnight Aang." Ann said softly, turning off the light as Aang snuggled under the blankets and closing the door behind her. Walking back to her husband, she couldn't help the frown that grew on her face. The poor boy was lost, confused and worried about his friends. She really felt for him, she couldn't imagine what he was going through. _But I am going to make him feel accepted and happy as long as he's with us._ She thought firmly. _You might as well add Possible to his name._

Up in Kim's room, Aang had already managed to fall asleep. Though his dreams were plagued with memories of his friends, some good, some bad, he still slept on soundly. His tattoos flashed a couple of times throughout the night, whenever a worry was making it to his dreams, and when it did he always got this reassuring feeling that everyone was ok, soothing him once again.

"_Fear not Aang."_ Roku whispered softly into his mind. _"Those you love are fine and the Phoenix has disappeared from our world once again. You need not worry about them now. Besides, a whole new set of adventures are right around the corner. Ones that I know will one day lead you home."_


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** And here's another chapter. Just to answer a review about James Timothy Possible's name, I apparently got his name order mixed up and my Beta hasn't picked it up. Sorry, I'll try to avoid doing that again.

* * *

><p><strong>Blending In And Dangerous Exposure<strong>

Aang found himself a little lost the next morning. His half asleep mind couldn't even understand what he was doing in a strange room, much less laying on the softest bed he'd ever seen. It took a few moments for his sleep boggled mind to register what happened before it all came crashing down on him. The Phoenix, the new world, the Possibles, all of it. However, this time, as he thought it all over, he couldn't help noticing that the fear and worry for his friends was gone. Confused, he frowned in concentration as he searched his brain for a reason why, but all he could find was a small voice in the back of his head telling him that they were perfectly ok. Shrugging it off, he sat up and stretched just as his belly started rumbling.

"Mmm, I hope they have breakfast in this world." Aang muttered, rubbing his belly as he pulled off the covers and swung his feet over the side of the bed.

"Off course we have breakfast." Tim said happily, startling Aang as he threw the door open. "Now come on, Mom made pancakes. If we don't hurry, Jim will steal all the maple syrup."

"I'm coming, I'm...coming." Aang yawned, rubbing some sleep out of his eyes as he got up and followed the energetic Brunette out of the room and down the stairs. A mouth watering smell hit their noses as they got to the kitchen to find a large stack of pancakes in the centre of the table, plates, utensils, maple syrup and the rest of the family already digging in around it.

"Morning Aang." Jim smiled with his mouth full before swallowing. "Grab a seat and dig in. Mom makes the best pancakes."

"I'll beg to differ. No one can cook like Ronald." Ann smiled before turning to the airbender. "Good morning Aang. Did you sleep well?" She asked, trying to hide her concern.

"Yeah. I had dreams of my friends, but somehow they made me feel like everything's fine back home." Aang nodded, taking a seat and using his fork to grab a few pancakes from the tower. "When I woke up, it just felt like I had absolutely nothing to worry about."

"Really? I wonder how..." Whatever Jim was about to say never left his mouth as the curious look he was giving Aang disappeared. His whole body jumped and a hiss left his lips at the same time Aang gasped and grabbed his head. It felt as if someone had shoved something into Aang's head and was digging through it as images of Uppa, Momo, Sokka, Toph and Katara were forced to the forefront of his mind's eye. Across from him, Jim gasped as each image flickered through his head too before taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself. He was relieved as the images died away and as he opened his eyes, it was to find Aang lowering his hand, his eyes opening too to reveal more than a little confusion.

"Boys? Are you two ok?" James asked, scanning each of their faces for any sign of distress. The whole table had gone quiet with concern as Jim and Aang had released simultaneous distress noises and squeezed their eyes shut. It looked like they were connected or in synch like Jim and Tim always were. It was a little disturbing to see that kind of synchronisation between them, especially to Tim who was used to being a part of it, not a spectator. After all, for that, you usually had to know each other inside and out and think the exact same way. The two had only met yesterday!

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jim said, giving his father a reassuring smile. The one, Tim noticed, that they always used when they covering something that might leave their parents concerned. "I just kicked my chair and wasn't ready for when the wood hit my ankle." Anyone else would be fooled by the tone and look on Jim's face. Tim however, was going to demand what really happened out of his twin as soon as they were alone.

"I just got a headache and a few flashbacks." Aang said as the Possible parents turned to him, not quite sure how to explain the experience past that.

"You probably just looked at the sun through the window." Ann stated, calming herself down before turning a warm smile to Aang. "I have the day off today, so after we get Jim and Tim to school, you and I will go and buy you some new clothes and some cover up ok? That way, you won't have to cover your entire body in clothes and overheat or worry about people seeing anything they shouldn't when your clothes move. We'll get you some more food as well. We aren't really set up here for a vegetarian at the moment."

"Ok, sounds good." Aang nodded, pouring some syrup on his pancakes and taking an experimental bite. James and Ann couldn't help the chuckles that escaped their lips as Aang's face lit up at the taste before he dived into his food. Needless to say, he really liked it.

...

The twins waved as their mother and Aang drove off before heading into the school building, Jim feeling a little nervous. He'd noticed the determined look on his brother's face and he knew why. Tim was able to see through every lie he'd ever made and this morning's was no exception.

"Jim, would you just say it already?" Tim cried exasperatedly, keeping pace as his brother moved as fast as he could to his locker. "You know what I want to know. What happened at the table?"

"Nothing." Jim retorted, refusing to look back as he reached his locker and put in the combination. However, Tim wouldn't have it. Grabbing Jim by the shoulders, he spun him around and pushed him into the locker door, staring him fiercely in the eyes.

"Don't lie to me Jim. It's not like you ever could." Tim said firmly, cutting Jim off when he opened his mouth. "What really happened and why are you so scared to tell me of all people? I'm your twin, we practically have the same mind. We've never kept a single secret from each other before."

However, as he looked into his brother's eyes, Tim lost every ounce of his intensity. Jim's mask had finally slipped. He was afraid, terrified even. His eyes was turning watery and he was biting his lip. He looked about ready to completely break down.

"Jim." Tim said softly, loosening his hands so his grip on his twin was a comforting one as opposed to the demanding one he'd been using. "Tell me, what's wrong? Come on bro, don't shut me out."

"I...I think." Jim stuttered, rubbing his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward so his lips were right by Tim's ear. "I think I'm reading people's minds. I think I'm a mutant."

"You..." Tim cried, only to stop short as he noticed his high volume. "You read Aang's mind at the table." He started again, this time in a whisper. "What did you hear?"

"Not hear, see." Jim responded just as softly, swallowing loudly. "I saw people and animals. An Eskimo girl directing water through the air with her hands and a boy with a black sword and a boomerang, a pale skinned, blind girl in green holding up a rock, a monkey with wings and a bison with an extra set of legs. From what Aang told us, I'd say they were Katara, Sokka, Toph, Momo and Uppa."

"He did say he had flashbacks." Tim nodded, putting the pieces together. "You must have looked into his head when they occurred."

"Only it's more than that." Jim stated, more panic entering his voice. "I think I caused the flashbacks. I can't explain it, but it felt like I was digging thoughts up to the surface from deeper within his mind. Add to the fact that I was curious about his dreams right as it happened and what the flashbacks were of..."

"Cool! You're a full-fledged telepath." Tim said softly, but excitedly. "Imagine what you could do with an ability like that? You even put Kim's powers to shame."

"Quiet Tim!" Jim shushed, placing a hand over Tim's mouth as the volume of his voice began to rise. "You could expose me AND Kim!"

"Right, sorry." Tim said a little sheepishly as he moved the hand away. "I got a little excited. Do realise just how cool this power is?"

"No, this power could get me abused, assaulted and harassed for the rest of my life." Jim whispered, not able to hold his tears back any longer. "This isn't like Kim's abilities. I could always tell anyone what you were thinking at any time, but I can't do that with the world. Unlike Kim, I have nothing to hide it behind. Plus, in case you didn't notice, Aang _felt_ it when I entered his head. It's only a matter of time before someone else notices and I'm exposed."

"Oh. I see your point." Tim muttered gravely, his excitement disappearing within an instant. "But why hide it from Mom and Dad? You have it easy with them, you _know_ that they'd accept you. They accepted Kim after all. And they would have let you stay home and get some control over it before sending you out in a widely populated area."

"But this is different from Kim's enhanced natural abilities." Jim sobbed, wiping the tears away before turning back to his locker and opening it, Tim doing the same beside him. "My ability is an invasion of privacy. And who knows how much more it could do. I might even be able to take away people's free will with it. How can you be sure that they'd be so accepting of such a talent?"

"Bro, they just practically adopted a complete stranger with the power to cause an earthquake, a tidal wave and a tornado all at once. I think they'll be ok with a few mental tricks." Tim responded a little dryly, closing his locker as he got what he needed.

"But-"

"No Jim." Tim said firmly, looking him right in the eyes again, this time with firm reassurance. "Mom and Dad will love you no matter what you can do. Worst case scenario, they'd send you to see that guy who talked to Kim about her...talents when they showed up to have him teach you to control them. And that wouldn't exactly be that bad now would it?" He stated with a smile, choosing his words carefully as some of their fellow students stopped nearby. "Trust me."

"...You're right." Jim nodded with a sigh, grinning as he wiped the rest of his tears away on his sleeve. "I'll tell Mom and Dad tonight."

"That's my twin bro." Tim cheered, wrapping an arm around Jim's shoulders. "Now come on, before our science teacher assumes we're started our own little experiment and calls the fire department again."

"Those guys must love us." Jim grinned as they headed down the hall. "Whether we actually do stuff or people just assume we have, we sure keep them in business."

"Or hate us for giving them so much to do." The twins laughed the whole way to their science class, and continued snickering as they entered to find their teacher sighing with relief. What could they say, it didn't take mind reading powers to figure that teacher out.

...

"These feel really rough." Aang muttered, an uncomfortable look planted on his face as he walked out of a changing room in a pair of jeans, pull as much of the fabric off of his legs as he could. Having gone straight to the mall after dropping off the twins, he and Ann had quickly gotten a hold of the concealer makeup from the cosmetics store and Ann had already shown Aang how to use it, effectively hiding the tattoos on his head, neck, arms and hands. Since then, they'd gone looking for clothes, but finding modern day clothes that Aang felt comfortable in, outside pyjamas and underwear, was proving to be a little more difficult.

"Ok, so we won't touch denim." Ann responded, handing him a pair of black board shorts and grey sweat pants. "Try these instead."

Taking then clothes, Aang step back into the change room and quickly ditched the jeans and tried on the sweat pants, sighing at the feeling of the soft fabric. Trying on the shorts, though the feeling of them was knew to him, he still found them quite comfortable.

"These are much better." Aang called over the door as he put his own pants back on and walked back out, all of the clothes in hand.

"Good, we know what to work with now." Ann said happily as they took the jeans back and fingered through the racks. "I guess now we just have to decide on what colours and styles you like."

"Well, yellow and light red are the colours my people's robes." Aang said softly, not wanting to be overheard. "But I've also become partial to grey and black."

"Ok, then let's see what they have...hey, this is nice and it looks like it's your size." Ann stated, pulling out a yellow shirt for Aang to see. A ring of pale red surrounded every opening and a red zigzag looking a lot like a lightning bolt travelled across the front from the right shoulder to the left hip. "What do you think?

"It looks great." Aang grinned, reaching up to feel the fabric. "And the fabric feels ok too. Let's get it."

Ann had to admit that shopping with Aang was amusing. Whenever she went clothes shopping with the twins, they were just keen to leave, usually picking clothes that looked cool and comfortable as they breezed through the place. It was difficult just to get them to try on what they picked. Aang however, was much more like Kim, taking time to examine the clothes and feel the fabric of everything he considered. He was a fair bit more picky than Jim and Tim, but unlike Kim, it was far more about fabric softness and the freedom of movement they gave him rather than designs. It took a lot of time and gave Ann a lot of chuckles at the strange looks Aang gave some of the more interesting styles teenagers were wearing these days, but they still managed to leave the store laden with bags. Aang wasn't going to need any more help blending in.

"I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. There's a few places that serve really good salads and sandwiches at the food court, want to get a bite." Ann asked, pointing down the hall to a round area full of plants and tables, food stores lining the walls. She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips as Aang's stomach beat his lips with a response, grumbling loudly.

"Yeah, I've developed a bit of an appetite." He smiled embarrassedly, blushing as his hand rested on his stomach.

"Then it's settled. How about after lunch, we check out the rest of the mall? Let you see what we do for fun." Ann asked as they found a table, setting their bags down.

"Yeah, that would be great." Aang grinned as he took a seat. He hadn't seen any form of entertainment yet, aside from a few little kids playing with a ball at the park, and he was keen to see what he could do in this world. Who knows, his time here could be really fun.

Smiling at his enthusiasm, Ann asked what he felt like eating before telling him to just sit at the table and watch their stuff while she went to get it. In all honesty, she was almost as excited as he was. It wasn't often that she got to have a lot of fun with her children. Kim usually did everything with Ron or Monique while when the twins were excited and having a blast, she was usually worrying what was going to break or blow up next. Shopping with Aang was definitely nice and fun. Just the change she needed.

_I just hope he'll rub off on the twins and not the other way around._ She thought as she got in line to order. Not that she had any problems with who her boys were, she just wished that they'd find less destructive things to do. _Although, something tells me they'll fascinate him to no end._

...

The twins' day at school went by fairly well, much to Jim's relief. While his telepathy had definitely tapped into more than a few minds, he only heard whatever was on the surface. Since he didn't actually dig into anyone's heads at all, they never noticed his presence, something Jim was very grateful for. Tim might have been right about his parents, but Jim was fully aware of the mutant haters in the school, some of he'd accidentally entered the minds of.

"All the homework done during class, no Pep Puppy practice with the cheerleaders today and a new friend with countless stories about his far away home and a mind ready to be impressed, I'd say today is gonna be sweet." Tim cheered excitedly, pumping his fist into the air as they walked down the halls, bobbing and weaving as the much taller students ran by.

"And a pair of parents to tell the big news." Jim muttered, not bothering to open his locker, leaving his books in his back pack as Tim dumped his stuff away. "Maybe Aang knows a way for me to keep it in check. After all, he has abilities too. his controlling methods might work for me."

"Yeah, if you can handle sitting Indian style for an hour or five." Tim snorted. There was no way Jim could sit still that long. They were both full of energy and excitement. All the time. "He's a monk. He'll just tell you to meditate and find inner peace."

"Anything that will stop this problem sounds good right now." Jim groaned irritably, rubbing his head. "The on and off voices running through my head are giving me a headache."

"Don't worry. Mom always has some aspirin and a bottle of water nearby when she's with us, I'm sure she'll give it to you." Tim responded as he shut his locker and headed towards the front door. Nodding at his brother's statement, Jim followed behind him, closing his eyes as his head throbbed. However, with his eyes closed, he never noticed the jock as he stepped into his path. Unprepared, Jim cried out as he hit a large, firm body and fell to the ground.

"Hey pipsqueak! Who do you think you are walking into me like that? Do have any idea who I am?" The jock snarled, glaring spiteful brown eyes down at where Jim was sitting on the floor, staring up painfully.

"Sorry, my head's killing me. And it's clearly not like you were watching where you were going either." Jim grunted, staring back defiantly as he pulled himself to his feet. "And who do you think you are anyway? It was an accident and you're hardly royalty, so why don't you just cut theatrics about your supposed superiority?"

Unnoticed by the two shooting glares at each other, the entire hallway had gone deathly quiet, something that was setting off alarm bells in Tim's head. There was a reason most brains would never mouth off to an egocentric jock, but Jim and Tim' athletic abilities had always ensured that they could handle the result. It wasn't like this was the first time the twins had gotten on the jocks bad side, usually more due to the girls fawning over how cute they were and their Pep Puppies routine, but this was different. Not only had Jim just openly challenged a jock for the first time, but he'd also just discovered his mutation. Tim had noticed more than once throughout the day that Jim's telepathy kicked in more often when he was emotional, so it was only a matter of time before his power did something it shouldn't.

And of course, as if fate had been listening, it happened. glaring right into the jock's eyes, Jim felt his mind diving deep into the jock's before he could stop it.

"AAHH!" The jock cried, throwing his hands into his hair as his eyes clenched tight at the same time Jim tensed, his own eyes closing as well. Jim couldn't help the gasp that escaped his mouth as an image popped into his head. The memory depicted a much younger version of the jock, maybe eleven or twelve, getting tied up like a scarecrow in a lettuce patch in his underwear by a group of older jocks. The jocks laughed cruelly as they painted a big, red L on his forehead and took a few pictures before leaving him there.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD YOU FREAK!" Jim didn't even have time to open his eyes before the jock grabbed him by his shoulders and swung hard him into the line of lockers.

"AARRGH!" Pain exploded from Jim's back as a handle wedged itself into his back, the pain only increasing as the jock pushed him into it with even more force.

"You're a FREAK! A disgusting mutant." The jock spat venomously, pulling Jim off of the locker only to slam him into it again, eliciting another scream. "You went into my head! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

"Hey, let him go!" Tim shouted angrily, pushing through a few foul faced kids and throwing a punch at the jock only to be back handed and stumble to the ground with a cry of pain of his own.

"You're one too, aren't you Possible?" The jock snapped, turning a hate-filled glare to Tim, never letting go of the whimpering Jim as he did. "You are after all twins. If one's a freak, they both have to be freaks."

As the kids around him backed away, some looking afraid while others curled their lips in disgust, Tim glared defiantly at them all. His blood boiled with rage at what this guy was doing to Jim. He didn't care about the accusation to himself, even if he had discovered a mutant power he wouldn't care. No, it was the pain this guy had caused his twin, both physical and mental, that had him riled up. The other students were just icing on the cake.

"Shut up, slime ball." Tim spat, standing tall, his fists clenched at his sides. He never noticed as the lights flickered as his fists shook. "And let my brother go. He only just discovered his ability and can't control it yet. Considering the out of control power is one that can get inside your head and destroy you from within, I don't recommend tempting fate. And if he doesn't strike you out, I will."

"What, you're gonna flick around in my head too? pull up my most embarrassing memories like he did?" The jock spat, looking insane with fury as he pulled back his fist. "If you two are so powerful, just try to stop me!" With that, he threw his fist right into Jim's stomach, heralding a scream of agony from the green clad twin and a flying kick from Tim into the jock's side.

"Ooph!"The jock gasped as the kick threw him off balance and stumbling back, dropping Jim to the ground along the way. Ignoring the brute, Tim quickly dropped to his brother's side as Jim coughed and whimpered, holding his stomach and showing way too much care in where his back touched the door.

"Jim, are you ok?" He asked worriedly, gently tracing fingers down his twin's back. Despite how bad he looked however, Jim still managed to give him a look that clearly said 'are you kidding me?". "Sorry, standard question." Tim muttered, grinning sheepishly and relaxing slightly when he felt all of Jim's bones in the right place. However, his relief was short lived, for a second later, he screamed as a pair of arms violently ripped him away from Jim, holding his arms in a bruising grip behind his back. Looking back with pained, angry eyes, he found his captor to be another one of the jocks, glaring down at him just as hatefully as the first one.

_Of course. The other reason brains don't usually take on jocks._ Tim thought irritably, struggling to no avail. _They can never settle what they start on their own. If you mess with one jock, the others won't be far behind._

"You two just don't learn." The jock snarled as he stabilised himself, walking back over and lifting Jim roughly into the air by his shirt. "I'm gonna show you just what happens when you abominations mess with good and normal people." He added, raising his fist to Jim's face.

"Don't." Tim snarled right back, softly, but furiously, his voice growing with each word he spoke. "Even. THINK ABOUT IT!" He roared, throwing his head back as he did. Every light bulb in the hall suddenly exploded as he did, eliciting screams from everyone surrounding them. The jock holding Tim was quick to let go, tossing the boy away as he and the fight's audience ran for cover from the falling shards of glass. The jock hold Jim however, was too far gone in his own fury to move away. He barely even twitched as shards cut through his arms as he glared at Jim, loathing and malice clear in his eyes.

Jim couldn't remember a time that he'd felt more fear or pain than he did right now. He was defenceless in the hands of this boy, a kid that loathed and despised mutants solely for existing. Add to the fact that Jim had dredge up and seen his most humiliating memory, the guy was totally hostile and Jim was too hurt to protect himself.

_Where are the teachers?_ He thought desperately as the jock's fist started moving. _I need help, please!_

It was in that moment that something inside him snapped. The fist slowed down before him, as if time itself had put everything into slow motion as an enormous, unyielding power surged through him. For a second, he felt another mind brush firmly against his before he knew no more.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" Jim's scream ended only after flames burst from his body. The Jock's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates with fear as he watched the boy become consumed within his own flames before they burst forth.

"NO! JIM!" Tim screamed, terrified for his twin as the fire only continued to grow at an amazing rate. Seeing them only growing and spreading faster and faster, Tim dived to the only protective spot he could think of as the other students ran away: he yanked his locker door open and dived into it, closing the door just as the flames reached him.

Everyone within a mile of the school heard the piercing screech of a bird of prey as an explosion rocked the school. For a moment, those outside the building could clearly see a bird made of fire as it burst from the collapsing building an flew away, faster than a plane.

Hesitantly, Tim opened the locker door as the flames disappeared, and looked left and right, desperate to find his brother. However, all he could find were a few burned and groaning students, one teacher and a burnt and partially collapsed hallway.

"I don't believe this. Jim doesn't have fire power. At least I don't think so." Tim babbled, becoming more worried by the second. "Jim?, Jim, where are you? Please, answer me?" However, no one called back. no one he cared about at that point anyway. Hyperventilating, he pulled at wooden planks and tossed away debris, desperately hoping to find his twin still alive within. He rescued a number of injured students in the process, some of which were very grateful and tried to help him, but no matter where he looked, he never found Jim.

"No. No, no, no. I don't believe it. He can't be gone." Tim cried, tears pouring down his face as he fell to his knees. "It can't be true. Jim. JIM! Come back, please." Unable to hold anything back anymore, he dropped right down to the ground and sobbed hard for the twin that appeared to be gone forever.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Guidance Of Yangchen**

"I think we're a little late." Ann commented, checking the car's clock as they made a right turn. "School has already finished for the day."

"Is that a problem?" Aang asked, taking a sip of his soda.

"Normally, no. But, when the students sticking around are Jim and Tim Possible, things can get a little...chaotic. They can't just sit and wait." Ann responded as she made another turn, sighing when the school came into view. "Oh good, we're almost there and the school's still in..."

Her sentence was forever left unfinished, for at that moment, both she and Aang stared on in horror as an enormous burst of fire in the shape of a bird exploded from within the school, destroying everything it touched. A loud, shrill bird cry was released from its mouth and a second later it shot up into the sky and disappeared.

"What was THAT?" Ann cried, hyperventilating and putting her foot down, increasing her speed. That thing had come from and destroyed the school and her boys were in there. Her eyes were already stinging at the possibility as to had happened to them.

"The Phoenix!"Aang cried, paling with pure terror. Sweat poured down his face as he remembered his battle with that creature and exactly what it was capable of. And it had appeared right where the boys who had helped him were. He hope with all his being that they had managed to avoid it like his friends back home had.

Slamming on the breaks, Ann ripped off her seat belt and jumped out of the car the second they arrived in front of the school, Aang right behind her. Up close, they could see just how much of a mess the school was. The outer reaches of the building were still intact, but the centre looked like a bomb went off. However, Ann wasn't paying it any mind. Her eyes were scanning the entire area, looking through the ranks of students leaving the building and being cared for by the teachers, not that they looked any calmer really, desperately hoping that her boys were among them.

"I don't see them anywhere." She sobbed, whipping her head around desperately to look again, only to have the same result. "Where are they?"

"There are a lot of vibrations coming from inside the school." Aang muttered, just loud enough for Ann to hear. They're too small for me to make anything out, but..." Stomping his foot onto the ground, he sent a small, unnoticeable tremor through the earth and closed his eyes. "Come on, show me...there!" He cried, his eyes opening wide as he caught the attention of everyone around him. "There are a total of ten people still inside the school, trapped in there by the collapsed walls."

Then we have to get them out of there before the whole place comes down." Ann responded, praying that those ten included her sons.

"How do you know how many are still in there?" A snobby looking girl asked, raising a demanding eyebrow. "Clearly, you don't even go to this school. How could you possibly know how many didn't leave?"

"Because I can listen to the earth." Aang answered, deciding right now wasn't the best time to be worrying about secrecy before taking off running towards the building. Flinging his hands up as he ran, he created earth pillars to support the damaged structure. Reaching a pile of debris blocking his path, he stomped and raised his hands, commanding the earth beneath it to rise before pushing the debris to either side, clearing his path. He kept up the process constantly as he travelled the halls, using the vibrations in the ground to tell him where the structure needed to be stabilised and to avoid paths that could collapse at any second. He found a few extra students and a teacher that he hadn't notice in his initial scan of the place, having mistaken their fuzzy, unmoving forms as debris, and used the air to carry them to less dangerous areas back the way he came as he moved on and once he found one of the conscious students behind a pile a debris, he had him tell the people outside to gather the wounded.

Reaching a mountain of wood and metal, water down from the pipes within it, Aang sighed. He was just one wall away from where the other nine people he'd felt within the school and was confident that no others, conscious or otherwise, were left. This was the last group and all of them were moving, if only a little.

"Better check this area properly first." He muttered, closing his eyes as he stomped the ground, sending another small tremor through it. "This is where the Phoenix appeared from. The structural stability is incredibly low." He said worriedly, opening his stressed grey eyes, biting his lip. "If I remove this pile, or break a wall around here, more of this place will cave in, and it's too far gone for earth pillars to hold it up. What do I do?"

He smacked his head and groaned, unable to find a safe answer. But there didn't seem to be any quick way of getting to the people just a foot away from him, most likely all really hurt by the fire that blew through the hall and through the...

"The roof! Of course, the Phoenix made a big hole in it. That's where a lot of this debris came from." He cried, smiling as realisation struck. Concentrating on the area he could feel all of the people in just beyond the debris, he planted both of his feet firmly onto the ground and raised his arms to his sides and up. Panicked cries hit his ears as the earth under the students rumbled and rose to the hole in the roof, but Aang just smiled. Now all he to do was go outside and create an earth bridge or ramp to the block of raised earth and they'd all be safe and free. Hopefully, Jim and Tim were there. If they weren't, he doubted that he could face Ann. Alive or dead, there were no more people in the building. At least, none that still could be distinguished as people.

...

Tim didn't know how long he'd been sobbing on the ground. He'd completely blocked out the other panicking students and the screams that this was all his and Jim's fault. Normally, he would have fought back at that with the fact that the jocks attacked Jim and unleashed a power Jim couldn't control, not the other way around, but right now, he could only think about one thing. How alone and miserable he felt with Jim gone.

It wasn't until the earth started shaking beneath his hands and knees that he came back to reality. Clasping his ears to block out the harpy screech of the girl nearest to him, he sat himself down as he felt the ground rise and just waited for it to stop. He wasn't even slightly confused or worried about it. He knew exactly who had this kind of power, he knew he was safe.

It wasn't until the rumbling began a few moments later that he bothered to move. He looked up just as a ramp made of earth connected to the newly risen platform, creating a safe passage to the ground just out the front of the school.

"Come on down." Aang called, projecting his voice up to them like a megaphone. "It's perfectly solid. You're all safe now."

"Safe? Yeah r-right." A jock shouted back, stuttering as he tried to hide his fear with rage. Looking up, Tim glared as he found the speaker to be none other than the jock who'd attacked Jim in the first place. "It was one of y-y-you mutants that got us into this mess in the f-first place."

"No, it was you pointlessly attacking Jim just because you felt like it." Tim snarled, glaring furiously up at the jock. Burned and remembering what happened last time he assaulted a Possible twin, the dark, angered look quickly dissipated from the jock's face and was quickly replaced by fear. "You attacked Jim just because he was a mutant, not for anything else. He read your thoughts by accident." He snapped before the jock could get a word in, leaving him closing his mouth and backing away from the slowly approaching child. "He discovered that he had telepathy THIS MORNING! He had no way of controlling it. I don't know where the flames came from, but if that was Jim too, then it's because again, it's brand new to him and you were about to send him to the emergency room at least! You triggered the power inside him, it wouldn't have happen if you left him alone. It's all. Your. FAULT!"

Unknown to Tim, everyone below could hear him. his words brought a gasp and wide eyed shock to Ann as what her boy said hit home. She had another mutant child and this one was discovered and treated horribly. It made her heart weep and brought tears to her eyes. Sobbing, she ran up the ramp, wishing nothing more than to wrap her arms around her poor son.

Aang however, froze with fear. He heard Tim loud and clear. The flames came from Jim. The flames turned into the Phoenix that meant that the Phoenix came from Jim. He knew instantly that Jim wasn't up there. If he was even still alive, he'd be wherever the Phoenix went.

Everyone else around the school didn't say a word. They could have gone on about how mutants made their schools unsafe, how this one had almost killed them all, but they didn't. Partly because it was a human being despicable that caused the power to surface and partly because despite all the rage and venom in Tim's voice, you could still here it. The deep seated sadness. Like something that meant more than anything in the world to him had just been destroyed.

No one noticed the low humming of car engines activating as Tim screamed, or the flashing of their lights. Both died before anyone even turned around.

Not able to hold back any longer, Tim jumped and slugged the guy as hard as he could in the face, knocking him down with a scream before walking miserably toward the ramp. No one stopped him. they were afraid of him and not just because he was mad or that he left the top jock whimpering on the ground. They were worried that upsetting him any more might cause him blow them up. After all, Jim was his identical twin. If one was a mutant, the other one was almost guaranteed to be one too.

Just as he reached the ramped, he came to a complete halt as his mother appeared before him, staring down at him with worried, pained blue eyes. He stared right into them, not saying a word. Not that he had to, the pools of raw pain and tears Ann stared into told her everything.

"No." She said softly, tears falling quickly down her face as she stared at Tim, begging for what his face was telling her not to be true. "Where is he Tim? Where is Jim? Tell me he's ok, please!"

It was too much for Tim. The boy just let out a loud sob and cried, flinging himself at his mother. Ann wrapped her arms around him and shook in response, all hope for Jim completely gone. The two stayed there, kneeling on the ruined floor as everyone else headed quietly down the ramp, their broken hearts yearning what they had lost.

...

To say that that night at the Possible household was heart breaking was an understatement. Tim had cried himself to sleep at the school, only to be awoken by the cops, demanding answers as to how the school went up like a bomb hit it. Since dealing with them and coming home, the poor boy hadn't said a word or done anything. He just sat in his room staring at the carpet with dull, leaking eyes. If you didn't know any better, you'd be sure that he was comatose.

James and Ann were dealing better. Both were screaming and sobbing as tear poured like rivers down their faces, hugging each other as if they'd die if they let go. They'd tried everything they could think of to comfort Tim before, but it became quickly apparent that he wasn't going to respond.

Aang just watched on from afar. He was sad too and felt a great deal of sympathy for the family. The four of them had taken him in without a second thought and now, his enemy had taken one of them from them. He didn't know any of the Possibles well enough to try and comfort them. Feeling more like an outsider than ever, he chose to just leave them alone and headed into the kitchen. Grieving or not, they'd all need to eat eventually and they had skipped dinner, so he put together a small salad and a few sandwiches so that they could eat later, not being keen to try out the cooking devices. He ate a couple of sandwiches himself and headed back to Kim's room, hoping to stay out of the way. Besides, he had his own problems now.

It was well after midnight when the Possibles finally cried themselves to sleep. Ann had come up once to thank Aang for the food, but after that he hadn't seen any of them again, the three of them holing up in Jim and Tim's room trying to couch the boy into eating.

However, while three tearstained faces snuggled into their pillows, Aang had long given up on trying to sleep. His own grief for Jim was overshadowed by his guilt and fear as a single thought passed through his mind: the Phoenix was in this world.

He hadn't been able to stop it. He couldn't even delay the bird when they fought. And it was now here, just like him. He'd hoped that it had just dropped off the face of the Earth again when he woke up to find himself in this world. He didn't want it here anymore than in his own world. And now it had taken Jim from them, burst forth from within the poor boy and left nothing remaining of him.

"But how?" Aang muttered, rubbing his forehead as he struggled to understand. "How did it get inside Jim in the first place? How did it not destroy Jim when it first touched him or while it was inside him? After all, this means that Jim was carrying around fire within him."

"_It is because this creature's powers are not pure, everyday fire."_ A wise female voice answered in his head. Startled, Aang looked wildly around the room, his panic growing as his eyes failed to find the person communicating with him.

"Who's there? Who are you?" He cried, raising his hands, ready to blow anyone or anything away with a second's notice.

"_Fear not young Air Nomad. I mean you no harm."_ Before Aang could respond, something snapped in his mind. His eyes and arrows glowed as his spirit left his body and floated up into a dark void. A few seconds later, a woman appeared before him, clad in the robes of an Air master. She had long brown hair with her forehead shaved bare, leaving her arrow in full view for all to see, brown eyes and a face that made you think of her as both a warm, loving, but firm and strong woman. Not a moment after she appeared, the darkness disappeared and Aang smiled as a setting sun revealed one of the Air Temples in all its glory, undamaged and full of lush, green plants.

"You're a passed Avatar, aren't you? An Air Nomad, like me." Aang asked softly, a small, awed smile growing on his face. It had been so long since he was able to talk to one of his own people.

"Yes, I am." She said warmly, giving him a motherly smile. "I am Avatar Yangchen."

"It is an honour to meet you." Aang said warmly, giving her a small bow of respect. "But why have you brought me here?"

"To give you what information I can about your foe." Yangchen answered, causing them both to turn serious.

"What can you tell me?" Aang asked calmly, holding back his eagerness. He needed answers. He had no idea what he was doing.

"For a start, I can answer the questions that were plaguing your mind concerning the young mutant Jim." She started, taking a seat on the grass, encouraging Aang to do the same. "You see Aang, the Phoenix is a very unique creature, as you have already noticed. But what you don't know is that its flames will only hurt what it wants them to. They can touch, carry and consume things without leaving a single burn if the creature desires to."

"But how did it get inside Jim? And Why?" Aang asked.

"It went inside him when you and it crashed into this world." Yangchen answered patiently. "It did so because travelling across dimensional boarders made it weak and Jim was an acceptable body for it to take to regain its strength in safety."

"So now that it's back out, how do I defeat it?" Aang asked hastily.

"That is a question that even I do not know the answer to." Yangchen replied, getting a sad sigh from Aang. "I apologise for not being able to help you in that aspect. However, I can give you one piece of information that may bring hope back to you and the people you are staying with. Jim Possible is not dead. He is very much alive."

"What? Really?" Aang cried, his face lighting up and growing a hopeful smile. "Where is he? How can I find him?"

"I am not sure how to track him, but the Phoenix is the key. Find one and you will find the other." Yangchen answered, closing her eyes. "It will be easy to follow. This world has very advanced forms of communication and will not be subtle. The trick will be separating them. Their spirits are bonded and only the Phoenix would know how to separate them."

"Then how can I save Jim and stop the Phoenix?" Aang asked, biting his lip. From the way this was going, to save the world he may have to...to end Jim's life himself.

"Jim is the answer to that question." Yangchen answered, surprising Aang. "With any other soul, you would have to destroy him to stop the Phoenix from carrying out its plan. However, the Phoenix' chosen host is not only a mutant, but a telepath. Sharing one entity, he may be able to use his power and position to find the way not only to free him, but to end the reign of the Phoenix once and for all. He is your one chance of saving this world."

"Then I will find him and save him." Aang said firmly, full of determination. There was no doubt in his mind. He would save Jim. And in turn, Jim would be able to give him the key to save them all. Yangchen just stared at him for a moment, observing his resolve before offering him another smile.

"I am confident that you will succeed. However, remember that you cannot do something like this alone. You will need help. Accept it from those who offer it. You may be surprised by the powers that you find."

"Ok, I will." Aang nodded. "Is there anymore information you can give me Avatar Yangchen?"

"Only to be strong and don't falter." Yangchen answered as she and the world started to fade. "This will not be an easy battle and victory may be beyond your grasp many times before you succeed. But no matter how many times you fail, don't give up. Find the way to stop the cosmic creature, before it ends everything."

...

Aang's eyes opened faster than lightning and he jumped right out of bed as the vision ended, revealing Kim Possible's dark room. Not caring that the sun had yet to rise, he ran as fast as he could out the door and down the hall. The door hit the wall with a bang as he made it to Tim's room, causing all three inhabitants to jump and stare wildly.

"What's going on? Who's there?" James cried, grabbing a chair from beside the desk as he stumbled around, unable to see in the dark.

"Aang, is that you?" Ann asked, noticing the small form by the door. "W-what's wrong?"

"Jim's alive." Aang said quickly, flicking on the light. All three Possibles' heads whipped up at that, ignoring the pain of the increase in lighting on their bloodshot eyes as they stared at the young Avatar with incredulous and hopeful faces.

"Jim's alive? Is he here? Where is he?" Tim asked hastily. Jumping off his bed, he looked wildly around the room before running past Aang and out the door, expecting to find him in the hall, only to sigh sadly as fresh tears gathered in his eyes. "He's not here."

"No, he's not here, but he is perfectly alright." Aang told him soothingly, wrapping an arm around the distraught teen and leading him back to the bed.

"If he's not here, how do you know he's alive?" James asked confusedly, an odd look crossing his face. He wanted to believe the boy, he really did. However, he was a man of science with his mind very firmly placed in the world of logic. As much as he was hating that part of him right now, he needed proof. "Tim saw him being consumed by fire. That should...should have turned him to ash." He added with a sob.

"Yes, but the flames touched him yesterday when the Phoenix went inside of him too and their wasn't a single singe on him was there?" Aang asked with a reassuring smile. He wasn't trying to be mean or rude, but he saw the look on James' face and knew instantly that he'd have to hit home with this one. It seemed to work too, as both James and Ann turned thoughtful at that. Tim seemed to be playing a memory over in his head as he nodded, agreeing with what Aang was saying. Aang gave them just enough time for that information to sink in before he continued. "I've been speaking to one of my past lives, Avatar Yangchen. Like me, she came from the Air Nomads about six hundred years ago. She was very wise and knew a lot about the Phoenix. Plus, since she is a past life, she has one foot in the spirit world, like all of my other past incarnations. She knew that Jim hadn't passed over into it and has discovered that he and the Phoenix have mixed into a connected entity. Wherever the Phoenix went, Jim will be there."

"We have to find the Phoenix?" Tim asked, raising an eyebrow before a huge, excited smile grew on his face. "Well, let's do it then. Let's go find Jim."

"But how?" Ann asked, rubbing her head, looking annoyed with herself for what she was about to say. Her son was alive and that filled her and her family with a great load of happiness. But there was still a big problem, one that might take away all of the happiness her family had only just regained. "That Phoenix flew with incredible speed. Who knows where it ended up?"

"Yangchen suggested that the Phoenix wouldn't be subtle and that your communication technology would be a great help." Aang answered.

"That's true, it could help, but that will only tell us where it's been while it's flying where there is a population to see it." Ann sighed, shaking her head. "It'll be useless if the Phoenix and Jim go somewhere outside civilisation or it they travel without the flames. By the time we get the information and track it down, chances are that it'll already have left."

She sighed sadly as she watched everyone's faces. She'd been right. Tim was starting to shake again as tears spilled free. It wasn't as bad as the first time, but it still was hard to see, not just because it was her son that was hurting, but because he was always so energetic and full of life. Aang was looking pretty upset too. She had no doubt that he'd hoped that he'd make them all happy with his news.

She was shocked however, by her husband. He didn't look sad or worried at all. On the contrary, he was smiling.

"In that case, we go to the one man on Earth that we know can track beings like Jim and the Phoenix." James stated, giving each one of them a grin before turning to his wife. "We go and find Professor Charles Xavier."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Hey, I am SO SORRY that it took so long to update this story. I feel really bad for leaving it for so long. Well it's coming back into my cycle now so expect more updates soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Xavier's Institute<strong>

Finding the Institute was the easiest task Aang had ever taken part in. Between a business card Xavier had left behind when he'd visited about Kim and the, albeit negative, publicity the school had gained when mutants were first exposed to the world, locating the school on the road map took no more than two minutes. A quick breakfast and a call to Wade later, Aang and the Possibles locked the front door and sat on the front yard as a plane came in for a landing on their street.

"Cool! That's an...aeroplane, right?" Aang asked, his eyes sparkling as his gaze moved from the tip to the tail. "A flying machine that outclasses a hot air balloon? But wait..." He frowned confusedly, scratching his head. "I thought that they were only allowed to land in places like...what do you call them...airports! That's it."

"You're completely correct. However, Wade got clearance for this one to land here for us." Ann smiled as the plane stopped, jumping in the second the door opened. "Thank you for the ride Mr Conway."

"Mrs Possible, don't worry about it. It's the least I can do for the family of the girl who singlehandedly saved me from my old, sinking plane." The man responded heartily, helping the group up into the high door.

"Ah yes, the tidal wave incident." James nodded, giving Mr Conway a proud, but slightly concerned smile. "I can't say that I'm happy she got in the middle of that, but all well, at least she wasn't with a boy." He finished with a peppy tone.

"You think tidal waves are safer for girls than boys?" Aang gaped. You could practically see the giant question mark floating over his head. "That's weird. Sokka would probably say the same thing about Katara, but that's only because she bends the water to her will."

"You know a mutant?" Mr Conway asked with a raised eyebrow, causing the group to tense. "My niece turned out to be one too. she only just recently calmed down about it. How's your friend taking it?" The group immediately relaxed as his face softened.

"She's doing fine. She loves her power." Aang smiled, a fond look crossing his face as an image of his friend crossed his mind. "She was especially thrilled when she discovered that she could even use water to generate a healing power. she could heal cuts and burns in seconds."

"Really now? Good for her." Conway smiled before waving them into the plane. "Well what are we waiting for? Strap in everyone, next stop...Xavier's institute! You looking for a mutant or something? Or is there one on the plane?" He asked casually as he started the engine, waiting just long enough for everyone to strap in before taking off.

"We need help finding our other boy, Jim." James said sombrely, not seeing the point in hiding anything. The guy had made it clear that he wasn't a mutant hater so there was no need to worry. "He's a mutant and he disappeared with the fire bird that blew up the school. We're hoping Xavier can find him."

"I see." Conway muttered sympathetically, visibly deflating at that piece of information. "Well, if anyone can find him, it's that Professor Xavier. Don't worry, I'm sure it will be alright." The rest of the short trip to Bayville New York was a silent one after that. the air was heavy with worry and grief and no one knew what to say anymore.

...

Sighing loudly, Jamie flopped face down onto the ground and refused to budge, even as his stumbling classmates almost walked all over him. Wolverine's training exercises were always tough, but today's had been absolutely brutal. The youngest member of the institution felt like every muscle in his body was on fire and he was so drained that the hard impact with the ground, which would normally trigger his still very loosely controlled power into creating three duplicates, resulted in absolutely nothing.

_Where's Jean when I need her? I want her to levitate me to the bathroom._ He thought with a groan, fantasizing falling asleep in a warm bubble bath, not that he'd ever let the others know that he still enjoyed bubbles. He was already teased for still choosing the bath tub over the shower.

His nose really starting to hurt from its crushed place in the ground, Jamie pressed his hands against the dirt and forced himself onto his back, trying and failing to ignore the pain of his screaming arms.

_That's funny._ He thought as he looked up into the sky with half lidded eyes. Flying through the clouds was a small plane and it was soaring pretty low. _Since when do any planes besides the X Jet come out this way?_

Unable to fight his curiosity, Jamie forced himself to sit up and watch as the plane only continued to descend before coming to a landing just a few blocks away from the Institute.

"Hey, maybe it's a new mutant coming here!" He cried excitedly as he jumped to his feet, his pain and exhaustion already long forgotten. "I hope it's someone my age." He added as he turned and ran towards the building. Professor Xavier was sure to know and he wanted to know everything he could. After all, how often did a known mutant get to make new friends?

...

"Have we got any idea what that thing was yet Chuck?" Logan grumbled as he entered the office. Resting his arms on his desk, Professor Xavier just sighed and shook his head.

Like most in America, the teachers of the Xavier Institute had heard about the explosion in Middleton and of the bird made of fire that flew off and had been trying to find the cause ever since. The nature of its exit proved that they were dealing with something of mutant nature, particularly one with a high level of power, but even with Cerebro it was impossible to find it. Charles had considered sending a team to Middleton to see if they could find anything, but by the time that they heard of what had happened, the bird had already flown out of town and disappeared long ago.

"We have to find it and deal with this problem soon." Storm stated from her place beside Hank, biting her lip as she frowned. "A mutant attack on a school of all places is causing a severe problem. It's only been one day and anti-mutant activities have already doubled. The kids will be kicked out of school before long."

"Right before we're all rounded up for a recreation of the holocaust." Hank nodded in agreement. "But finding this one mutant won't stop any of that from happening. The spark of fear and hate this situation created has already turned into a wildfire. We're going to have to head back into the political field and try to sooth this over."

"I already called in a few favours and had some friends take care of that side of things." Said Charles. "If anyone can make them understand that this was only one mutant's doing and that it was no different than a normal human bringing a gun or pipe bomb to school, they can. What we need to focus on is stopping this mutant from making a repeat performance."

"But if you and Cerebro can't find it then-" Scott started before being cut off by the door flying open and an over excited Jamie running in.

"Professor Xavier, do you know anything about the plane that landed nearby? Are we getting another schoolmate? How old is he, what's his name?" Jamie asked in one breath, leaving everyone struggling to keep up.

"I have not had any conversations concerning new students Jamie." Xavier started slowly as Jamie visibly deflated. "Nor do I know of any other reason why a plane would land nearby. But it is very unusual, I will admit, seeing that there are no airports nearby." Though his eyes stayed warmly on Jamie, his mind reached out and searched for the inhabitants of the plane. Quickly finding a total of five minds within in an otherwise empty area, he touched gently into them. It wasn't enough to read their thoughts or anything so invasive, it was just strong enough of a connection to get a glimmer of their emotions to try and determine whether or not they were a threat. With the explosion so recent, he couldn't take too many chances at the moment, otherwise his students could get seriously hurt.

At first, he was relieved as there was no hostility in any of them. However, that quickly changed as he felt four of them start heading towards the school, all of which had varying degrees of fear, desperation, hope and sadness.

"Jean, Storm, go to the front gate, four people will arrive here soon. Hank, make sure the infirmary is in working order just in case. I haven't felt any signs of a threat in their minds, but judging from what I have felt, something is very wrong. It's best that we be prepared for anything. I'll be down in the lounge room when they arrive. Logan, Scott, try to keep the students away for a while. The last thing these people need is the extra stress that the kids tend to cause."

"You got it Professor." Scott nodded as the group left, Jean coaxing Jamie out of the room with them.

Staying where he was behind his desk for a few more moments, Xavier took a deep, calming breath and prepared for whatever was being brought to his door. He knew that they were coming here, there was no doubt even without reading further into their minds. He'd instantly recognised two of them as James and Ann Possible, having felt them before and knew that he was the only reason they'd come this far from home. Added to the fact that they lived in Middleton and had come to him just after a mutant blew up the high school, he knew that at least some of his questions would probably be answered within the hour. The problem was that he had no idea what they had to do with it.

_The only possibility that jumps to mind is that Kim Possible was involved._ He thought with a sad sigh. He knew that she wouldn't do this, and that couldn't even if she wanted to, not having that kind of power, but that didn't mean that she couldn't have been affected by it. Well, there was no point thinking about it too much now. Instead of jumping to conclusions, he'd wait until he'd gotten the story. Who knows, they might hold the key to fixing his problem while he helped with there's if he was lucky. With that in mind, he hit the joystick on his wheelchair and rolled out of the room.

...

"Come on Jean, let me come with you, ppplllleeeaaassseeee?" Jamie whined, pouting up at the redhead. "I wanna meet them too."

"No Jamie." Jean shook her head while holding back a sigh. It was the only way that she could still look at him and not become a sucker to his big blue eyes routine that he knew she fell for every time. "You heard the Professor. Besides, you're hardly presentable at the moment." She added, waving her hand over his muddy and ripped uniform. Jamie couldn't help rolling his eyes at that, much to the amusement of Storm. He was a thirteen year old boy, muddied clothes weren't considered bad at all. If anything, it meant he liked to have fun.

Taking advantage of him breaking his pout, she got a startled cry out of him as she levitated him into the air and into the boys bathroom as she passed it, closing the door firmly not a second after setting his feet back down on the tiled floor.

"I've locked the door Jamie. Get yourself cleaned up and I'll let you out when you're done."

"Hey, no fair!" Jamie cried, banging on the door. "Let me out of here."

"Not until you're washed up." Jean responded, her voice growing fainter as she got further away. "And if you lie to me about being cleaned up when I come back, I'll come right in and bath you myself." She added, her voice holding a very clear, threatening tone. Wide eyed and blushing, Jamie stopped banging on the door immediately and went straight to the bath tub, turning on the water and stripping off his clothes. There was no way that he was risking ignoring a threat like that when a telekinetic like Jean was involved.

"Well, I got one wish today at least." He sighed disappointedly as he grabbed his hidden bottle of bubble bath and poured it into the tub. "Jean levitated me into the bathroom. Why did she wait until I didn't want it anymore?"

"You know that the Professor, nor I, would ever let you do that." Storm commented as she and Jean continued on down the stairs.

"True, and I'd never do it even if you did. But, what better way is there to get a thirteen year old to do what you tell them to than an empty threat of mortification?" Jean smirked, earning a chuckle from Storm.

"Fair enough, but I don't recommend using it for too much longer." Storm said, her smile turning into a small smirk. "Young and childlike as he still is, he is also a pubescent teenage boy. Sooner or later, he will come to like the idea of someone else's hands running over hand and it is more likely that he will want yours then say Scott's or Bobby's."

Storm couldn't help but laugh all way to the door after that. The look on Jean's face was absolutely priceless.

...

If it weren't for his air boosted speed, even Aang would have had trouble keeping up with Tim as he ran towards a giant mansion that could only be their destination. Under normal circumstances, he would have gone ecstatic at the sight of the place, but at that moment all he cared about was the one person inside that could help him find his twin.

Reaching the fence that seemed to go for miles into the forest behind the building, Tim followed it right to the front gates, Aang and his parents just a few feet behind.

"Welcome to the Xavier's Institute for the Gifted." So intent on finding the gate, Tim failed completely to notice the two women standing just a foot behind it and jumped at the voice with a small cry while, unnoticed, a security camera spun erratically in its place on the fence. Taking a deep breath, Tim looked up into the face of an African woman with white hair as she smiled down at him with warmth and affection. "I'm sorry to have startled you young man. My name is Storm. What is yours?"

"I'm Tim Possible." Tim replied, nearly flinching at the silence that existed before he answered. He and his brother were always introduced to people together and Jim always went first. It was another painful reminder that his twin wasn't with him. "We're here to see Professor Xavier."

"I see." Said the red head beside her as she looked at the three behind him. "We'll be happy to show you to him." She continued with a smile as she opened the gate, relaxing a little as she did so. Whatever had them so upset wasn't physical.

_Hopefully they're just having difficulty with a mutant ability._ She thought as she and Storm led the way into the mansion. Even without trying, she could sense their hastiness and desperation, but many of the younger students or their parents had felt the same way when they first came here, their powers new to them and the idea of being different and unable to control the ability overwhelming them. Jubilee and Sam were prime examples before Bobby showed them the joys of having powers and Amara had accidentally burned her home down.

"How did you know that we were coming?" Ann asked curiously as they walked down the footpath, clasping a hand on Tim's shoulder to make sure he didn't lose patience and run ahead or say something rude.

"One of our students noticed your plane come in for a landing nearby." Storm answered. "As there is no airport for miles nor anything else that one would fly all the way here for, it was a very logical assumption."

"Thank you for allowing us to come in." Aang said respectfully with a bow of his head, surprising the women before him. "I hope we haven't come at a bad time."

"No, not at all." Jean smiled, bowing her own head in response. "We are always happy to help those who need us. I assume that you are having a mutant related problem if you are seeking our help?"

"Yes, we are." James nodded sadly as they reached the door. "Though if you don't mind, I'd rather wait until we have met with Professor Xavier. It will be hard to talk about once."

"Of course." Storm said softly as they made it past the threshold. Coming into a huge, cheery and brightly lit room, all four visitors couldn't help but gape. The white stairs leading up to the balcony and second floor hallway stood out brightly and the room had a few flower vases around the walls, but it was otherwise empty and yet it still managed to create a very welcoming air. no doubt it made the institute look like paradise to the students, especially any that had been disowned and rejected by their friends and families.

"Your home is simply beautiful." Ann complimented, getting happy smiles from the other women in return. Tim however, wasn't paying attention. He was turn his head from one way to the other, looking as far as he could down the multiple hallways for any sign of Xavier.

"Why thank you." Storm said warmly before waving her arm towards the hallway to their right. "Now please, come this way. The Professor is waiting for you."

Following Storm, Aang and the Possibles quickly found themselves coming into very comfortable room. Comfy looking couches created a large rectangle with one wall with a fireplace in the middle of it while the pattern was recreated behind it with a TV instead of a heat source. Shelves of books and DVDs were spread across the last two walls, but even so, there was plenty of room for a large number of people to move around. And sitting in a wheelchair near the fireplace was the sophisticated, bald man that was Charles Xavier.

"Mr and Mrs Possible, welcome to my school." He greeted with a small smile, shaking their hands before offering them a seat. "It is a pleasure to see the two of you again. And I see that you brought a couple of boys with you."

"It's a pleasure to see you again to Professor Xavier." Ann responded as she took a seat on the couch beside her husband before waving her hand towards the boys as they sat down on the nearest couch. "This is our son, Timothy, and the young man beside him is Aang."

"Hello Professor Xavier." Aang said as he brought his hands together and gave him a small, respectful bow while Tim nodded somewhat impatiently beside him. grinning at both boys' behaviours, Charles bowed back.

"Hello young ones. Now, what brings you all here today. I feel that you are all a little...worried." He asked, putting what he felt flowing off of them below the surface mildly. "Does this have something to do with Kimberly?"

"No, not Kimi." James shook his head, his calm mask disappearing within an instant, along with his wife's. "We need your help to find our other son. Tim's twin brother Jim."

"Your son? He developed a mutant ability too?" Charles asked, intrigued. It wasn't too surprising, after all the mutant gene was genetic. If one sibling has it, then it is highly possible for another to inherit it too. Curiously, Charles turned his eye to Tim. "Are the boys identical?" He asked.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" Ann asked hesitantly as she fought back tears. Now that her mask was gone, her grief was quickly becoming clear for all to see.

"Has Tim shown any signs of a mutation?" Charles asked, simultaneously answering her question.

"No. I haven't done anything." Tim muttered, shaking his head and causing a slightly confused look to pass over Charles' face. One that only grew as he realised that the cause for their visit was absent.

"If this is about Jim, why isn't the boy here with you?" He asked even as a possibility crossed his mind. After all, like he'd thought before, the Possibles did come from Middleton.

"The short answer to that is that we need your help to find him." James answered gravely. "He was possessed and taken from us by a cosmic creature called the Phoenix."

"The what?" Charles gasped, wide eyed and paling considerably. Despite what he had seen on the news, that was the absolute last thing he'd expected to hear.

"Do you know about the Phoenix Professor?" Aang asked, suddenly very intrigued as Charles nodded.

He knew of the creature they were speaking of very well. It had been quite a few months since he'd seen the images of the future hidden within Apocalypse' mind, but of all he had seen, none was clearer or more horribly vivid then Jean being consumed by the Phoenix and becoming their greatest enemy. Yet here it was, appearing so much earlier than the visions had informed him and in a very different host.

"The Phoenix was foreseen to be the most terrible of foes. But I can assure you that Jim was not supposed to be its host. Please, tell me everything from the beginning. Everything you know about the Phoenix and every detail of how this situation has occurred."

"That's a story that starts outside this world. Outside this dimension, to be more specific." Aang responded slowly, making himself more comfortable. "I hope you're ready for a long story."

Nodding, Charles rested his chin on his clasped hands and listened. It was a very fascinating story. Though he knew of other dimensions, this boy's was so much like their own and yet so different that his intrigue only grew as he continued explaining the cultures and abilities of each people. It gave him hope to hear about a world where those with powers coexisted with those without peacefully and yet sadness at the possibility that those who had specific powers turned on those of a different elemental nature. A disturbing possibility of the mutants' future. Aang's explanation of the Avatar, who he humbly admitted to being, proved fascinating to Charles too. A being more powerful than any other in the world that is even reincarnated and more powerful with each new life when using the Avatar State, and yet all that power is used to maintain the balance of the individual nations. Someone that all the nations generally were keen to look to resolve conflict as peacefully as possible. His own world could use someone like that, someone that everyone felt comfortable looking up to whether they had powers or not.

When they finally reached the part if Aang's story when the Phoenix appeared however, his face grew much more concerned. To know that it spent eons crossing dimensions and destroying everything in sight, even without a host, was far more horrific then even he thought the cosmic creature could be.

He did find it interesting however, that it chose Jim as its host. In its weakened state, it would make sense that it would hide away in the first person it could find, but in a park with plenty of people so close and two other boys in close proximity, it chose to hide within Jim. Who, like Jean, was a telepath.

His heart went out to Tim as they reached the end.

"The jerk just kept going on and Jim was so hurt. Then suddenly Jim screamed and fire just exploded from him before blowing through the building and taking off." Tim said miserably, being the only one to see the fight.

"Aang and I saw the Phoenix burst from the school on the way to pick the boys up." Ann sobbed as Storm offered her a tissue and wrapped an arm comfortingly around her while her husband stared unblinkingly at the ground. "But it flew off so fast that we lost sight of it pretty quickly. And all I cared about at that moment was...was..."

"Finding your sons, who had been right in the middle of it." Storm finished for her, squeezing her shoulders comfortingly. "Just like any good mother would. You could not have known that this fire bird had your son."

"I'm sorry to ask, but how do you know that it still has him?" Jean asked hesitantly, seeming to be angry with herself for asking. "He was consumed by fire right? So how do you know he's ok?"

"As the Avatar, my past lives reside with one foot in the spirit world. seeing as I'm close to the Possibles, they'd easily find Jim there if he crossed over." Aang answered, offering the currently self-loathing redhead a reassuring grin. "Plus, since I can talk to them, they can give me a huge amount of information. Avatar Yangchen, the Air Nomad Avatar before me, assured me that he is fine and she and Avatar Roku, my most recent past life, gave me all the information I have on the Phoenix. Yangchen is confident that the Phoenix will not kill Jim. It bonded its spirit with his."

"Now that the story's over, can you help us find my brother?" Tim asked impatiently, jumping to his feet as he stared fiercely at Professor Xavier. "I need him back now!"

"Of course. Make yourselves at home. I'll start searching right away." Professor Xavier nodded, completely unphased by the boy's lack of manners. If someone so close to him was in this situation, he'd be doing everything he could to speed up the process of finding them too.

However, one troubling thought had crossed his mind as he made his way to Cerebro. Even if they found him, the poor boy could still be lost, buried deep within his own mind. and he knew of no way to save him, or any of them for that matter, from the Phoenix.

...

Unbeknownst to those gathered in the lounge room, one other set of ears had heard their conversation. Heading back towards his room so as to not draw any suspicion to himself, Jamie could help but mope a little. The kids in there weren't likely going to be in the mood to hang out with him and their situation sounded really bad. He really felt bad for that Tim guy.

_I have to help._ He decided, frowning at the ground. _I'll find a way to help get his brother back. Then maybe I can get them all to be happy again._ With his mind set, he sped up his pace and headed back to his room to change into his training uniform. He doubted that it would take the Professor long to find the missing twin and when he did, Jamie was going to help bring him back.


	6. Chapter 6

**One Bad Turn of Events**

"I'm confused Chuck." Logan muttered as he followed Xavier to the lower levels of the school. "If you couldn't find this mutant with Cerebro before, what makes you think that you can find him now?"

"Because I was searching for a powerful, fiery mutant before." Xavier answered as the elevator door opened and he head out down a metal hallway. "The Phoenix clearly cannot be detected by Cerebro's systems because it is a being made of a very different power than those of a mutant. This time however, I'm searching for Jim Possible, a telepathic mutant. Provided that the Phoenix isn't capable of shielding him, it shouldn't take much effort to find a specific mutant, especially when it's one so similar to myself."

"And what do you intend to do when you've found him?" Logan asked gruffly, causing Charles' focused expression to falter and morph into a worried one. "There's no way that we can let a kid possessed with that much out of control power walk casually down the streets of an unsuspecting city."

"No. we'll have to bring him here and try to find a way remove the Phoenix and send it away." Xavier sighed, refusing to even consider the other option. "It will just mean that his family will have to stay here too. They will refuse to go anywhere without him and after this disaster, I don't blame them."

"I hope you can save him Chuck, I really do." Logan muttered under his breath, scowling as the only other possible way to stop the Phoenix came to mind.

"So do I." He said sadly as the door to Cerebro opened. "Prepare the team and get the jet ready. Once I've found him, we'll have to move fast." With that, he rolled into the room and shut the door behind him. Growling under his breath, Logan took off at a run. Xavier had told him everything he knew about the Phoenix and what it was going to do if left unchecked. And it left even him scared. From what he'd heard, this thing may very well be more than even he could hope to survive against.

...

Gathering the team was a very quick progress. The only straggler was Bobby, though no one brought it up. The newest member of the X Men was still in the second group's classes after all and Logan had been very vigorous with them.

"Is anyone gonna tell me why we're getting on the jet?" Bobby moaned, limping slightly as he walked up the jet's ramp. Looking inside, he gaped widely at just how many were coming along. "Wow, the whole team? It's something that big?"

"It's a threat at the same level as Apocalypse. Hopefully the creature will be calm and resting when we reached the poor boy that it's inhabiting?" Storm responded as she went through the last minute checks.

"...Ok, you just lost me." He muttered as he sunk into a chair next to Kurt.

"Long story short, a big, bad creature is inside an innocent mutant and we're going to try and bring him back here without setting the beast off." Cyclops exclaimed. "Now strap in, we're taking off the second the Professor has the location for us."

"Hey!" A high pitched voice called just as Wolverine was about to raise the ramp. "Wait for me! I wanna go too." Looking out towards the hanger door, Wolverine let out a loud sigh as Multiple ran towards the jet, shaking his head.

"Sorry kid, this trip isn't for you." He said firmly, stopping the boy in his tracks. "You need to stay here."

"What? Why?" Multiple asked, pouting sadly at the groaning feral mutant. "I wanna help Jim too."

"And how do you know that the person we're going to find is named Jim, hmm?" Wolverine asked, staring down at the boy with a fierce look and an arched eyebrow as Multiple scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously.

"Well...I...um, you see..."

"You snooped." Wolverine stated.

"I locked you in the bathroom." Jean exclaimed, narrowing her eyes as she got up and joined the conversation. "And you were still in there when I went back to check on you."

"Yeah, well, bathrooms lock and unlock from the inside." Jamie said with a steadily growing nervous smile, making Jean mentally smack her forehead. "It was easy to get out when I remembered that and I'm, well multiple." He added, creating two duplicates of himself for emphasis. "But don't worry Jean, I did have a bath." He added quickly as a scowl grew on the redhead's face.

"No kidding, I can smell that bubbly soap quite fine." Wolverine commented, causing Multiple to tense. The boy knew that Wolverine knew his secret, but to mention it in front of everyone else...he really hoped that they didn't figure out what he meant. "Look kid, this one's too much for you. I'm barely letting Iceman on this trip and only because he is one of our most powerful members."

"Why don't you try to cheer up Tim?" Jean suggested as Wolverine walked back into the ship, hitting the button to close the door while he was at it. "You wanted to meet him anyway." She added right before the jet closed with a final clang.

"Aww." Multiple sighed defeatedly. His head and shoulders sagging, the young mutant headed back towards the hangar door.

"Shot down again." He muttered miserably, not even bothering to watch where he was going, trusting his feet to take him back to the elevator. It wasn't fair. Multiple never got to go on missions, never got to go to dirt bike tracks, never got to go into the Danger Room sessions for actual mission training. He barely got to do the outside courses and usually they just shot a net at him and took him out of the game near the beginning. When was he going to get his shot at this stuff?

_Maybe when you beat the net?_ A sarcastic voice asked from the back of his head, only making him groan in irritation. Pouting as he reached the elevator, he hit the button and headed back up to the surface levels. If he couldn't be part of the mission then he might as well do as Jean said and meet Tim and that other boy, Aang. Who knows, they might be fun to be around. After all, Aang said that he had the power to control the four elements of nature right? That was like Storm, Bobby and Avalanche and Pyro all mixed into one. He had to see that.

His sadness forgotten, Jamie smiled and started bouncing on the balls of his feet. He suddenly couldn't wait to get back up into the school.

...

Tim hadn't said a word since the Professor had left, opting to just sit there and fiddle with a few mechanical components. Before they'd found Aang, he and Jim were planning to build a new and improved force field device, seeing that their old one had been useless against the giant robots at Kim's graduation. They'd just needed to get parts from their old inventions, which of course, ended in their little debate at the park. Now that Jim was gone however, it didn't matter to Tim what devices he lost in the process, he just pulled apart whatever had the pieces he needed and started put them together. His Dad called it keeping his hands busy, a defensive mechanism, to distract him from his problems. The only problem with it was that this was exactly what he and Jim loved doing together all the time.

Although, as he attached a few wires and locked a chip in place, he couldn't help but muse about the looks of frustration Jim tended to give him when they were building lately. He knew why and though it made him feel a little smug, he couldn't quite understand it himself. Constructing devices had just become a lot easier for him lately. He just knew exactly where the individual pieces needed to go for the right result without having to think about it and sometimes it was like they were putting themselves together. One time in particular, he was working on a circuit board and for a second it looked like it was altering itself exactly to how he envisioned the final product before he dropped it onto his desk. His sudden advancement in skill had left even his rocket scientist twin brother a little behind him. It was even happening now. He was barely paying attention to what he was doing and yet the shield generator was coming along perfectly.

"That's cool. What are you making there?" Startled, Tim jumped at the voice. He was so wrapped up in his head that he hadn't noticed his parents leaving the room or Aang pulling himself into a meditative state, let alone someone entering. Looking up, he found a boy dressed in a black bodysuit with yellow rings surrounding red circles with black Xs on his shoulders, yellow gloves and boots and a yellow belt with a red square with a black X decorating the buckle. His messy hair and his eye colouring were darker versions of his own and his skin was much more tanned. For a moment he was reminded of how he and Jim always looked before this mess started. A bright, excited smile covered his face, mixed with innocence and wonder, much like the twins always did when they were learning something new or seeing the results of their creations for the first time. Ok, maybe without the innocent part.

"It's a shield generator." Tim answered just as the boy's smile started to fade, reminding him that he'd been asked a question. However, the boy perked right back up at the answer.

"Really? Does it work? That's so cool." He said excitedly, beaming at the slightly overwhelmed Tim. "I've never met someone my age smart enough to build one of those before. Will you show me how it works?" He asked, beaming hopefully.

"Sorry, it's not quite finished yet." Tim replied, feeling a little bad when the kid deflated a little. "But I can show you another invention of mine." He added quickly, shoving his hand randomly into his bag for a still intact device. The boy before him perked up again immediately at that, his eager expression growing bigger as Tim pulled out what looked like a small laser.

"Cool! So what does that do?" He asked excitedly, looking over every inch of it.

Tim smirked slightly as he registered what he'd pulled out. Despite how he'd felt only moments ago, this kid had managed to help his mischievous side resurface.

"It's a magnetic laser. It's a much more powerful and concentrated version of a magnet." He explained, right before his hand snapped around and pointed it at the suddenly startled mutant. With the press of a button, the laser was fired right at him and the boy felt his whole body get roughly jerked as it ripped his belt right off of him and sticking it to the guard around the laser's barrel.

"WOW! That almost pulled ME right to it." The mutant gasped, watching in awe as Tim shut it off and grabbed the now falling belt.

"Good thing you don't really need this." Tim smiled as he offered the belt back. "So what's your name anyway? And why are you dressed in spandex?"

"Oh sorry, I guess I got caught up in my excitement again." The boy smiled brightly as he strapped his belt back on. "I'm Jamie. I'm also called Multiple, you can call me whatever name you like better. And this is my training and mission uniform. It's just a basic one, nothing special about it like the X Men's, but it works fine for me. I can get my own design later, when I get to join the team."

"You go on missions, but you're not on the team?" Tim asked, raising a curious eyebrow. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of missions they tended to do. Although, now that he thought about it, the people he'd seen around here were some of the mutants that were all over the news when mutants were just discovered and all of them were identified as students of this Institute or the Brotherhood. He quickly got back on topic though as Jamie's happiness disappeared with a sad sigh.

"No, they've only ever let me go on one mission before and that was with that whole Apocalypse thing. They didn't exactly have the time or power to be picky about who was going." He said as he glared at the floor. "I wanted to go and help your brother when the Professor finds him, but I got the 'I'm too young' speech again. they give it to me every time they go off to do something fun. The last time any of them let me do anything exciting, besides go on a nice, safe cruise that everyone but storm still ditched me on, was when Bobby, Jubilee and Sam took the X Van for a joyride...and wrecked it." He added with a sheepish grin before his eyes widened fearfully. "But no one else knows that I was involved in that, so please don't tell anyone. Bobby and the others got in so much trouble after all that."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Tim grinned, liking the boy. "So what can you do? What's your power?" He asked. Through the corner of his eye, he noticed that Aang was peeking curiously over too, though he clearly felt that he needed to keep meditating.

Beaming, Jamie took a step back and a second later three more of him seemed to be released from him, all of them perfect duplicates of the original.

"I can duplicate. A lot." One that Tim was sure was the original said.

"But not just me. I also duplicate my clothes and anything I'm holding, like a broom or slingshot." Another Jamie added earnestly as all four looked at Tim with hopeful eyes.

"That is such a cool power." Tim exclaimed, causing the Jamies to beam at him. "I've wanted to see that power ever since my sister Kim told me about the twins who have it on Team Go! How many duplicates can you make?"

"I don't know. But I know it's a lot, I made an army when we fought Apocalypse." Jamie answered excitedly as he absorbed his duplicates before turning thoughtful. "But I can't always make that many. I don't know why, but it probably has something to do with the kinetic energy thing the Professor always talks about when he tries to help me control my power."

"You can't control it yet?" Tim asked curiously.

"Not very well, no." Jamie sighed, deflating again. Tim couldn't help but find the quick jumps from excitement to a little mopey the boy so frequently performed quite amusing. "Every time I bump into something or fall down, or even just punch my own hands sometimes, at least three duplicates pop up. I can make them go away whenever I want, but I can't stop them from appearing."

"I bet that causes some amusing scenarios." Tim commented amusedly, trying to perk the boy back up. He smiled in success as the mopey look disappeared once again, replaced by the excitable spark that shined from the young mutant's eyes.

"Yeah it does. Like the time in the X Van and a bump in the road caused me to duplicate all over the back and crush Jubilee into the door or on a snow day where Bobby hit me with a snowball to the back of my head and my duplicates and I ended up rolling into a giant snowball that ploughed into Berserker, or-"

"Maybe we should take this conversation somewhere else." Tim interrupted as Aang let out a soft, irritated groan, sending the Avatar an apologetic look. "Aang's trying to meditate and we keep interrupting him."

"Oh. Sorry." Jamie said, giving Aang a sheepish smile. He'd honestly forgotten the other boy was there. Wow, he really needed to start paying more attention. Wolverine would have his head if he found out that he failed to notice another person in the room. "Why don't we go outside? We won't be bothering anyone there, everyone else is still probably either in one of the showers or passed out in their rooms from Wolverine's training lesson."

"Sounds like a plan." Tim nodded, jumping to his feet and grabbing his bag before following the energetic Multiple out of the room with a large smile planted on his face. It was strange, but somehow Jamie had pulled him right out of his funk. He was still worried for Jim, but he couldn't help but feel a little joyful in Jamie's presence. The boy's cheer was infectious and had the full effect on Tim. Besides, with Xavier's help, it shouldn't be much longer before Jim was back with him anyway, right? Things were going the right way now, he might as well enjoy the company of an interesting, curious, possibly over chipper boy his own age. After all, it wasn't like he really had...any friends his own age, excluding Wade, Aang and his brother. Going to high school a few years early made it a little hard. This would be a very nice change of pace.

Watching them go, Aang paused just long enough to let a look of relief wash over his face. He'd hated Tim being so broken and desperate. It had felt like both twins were gone, both to him and Tim's parents. They all wanted the happy, curious and sometimes devious Timothy Possible back and it looked like they found the perfect person to bring Tim back. Waiting just until the last speck of Tim's red shirt had disappeared from view, Aang closed his eyes and calmed his mind again. He very much needed to calm himself down. He'd been dealing with a lot of stress too lately after all. And besides, in his meditative state, he could easily call up the previous Avatars and learn from their experiences. Even if he wasn't going to have to fight the Phoenix again, he was still in a new world filled with its own unique dangers. Anything they could teach him would be highly appreciated.

...

Down in Cerebro, a vein had grown very noticeable on Charles' forehead. Now that he knew who he was looking for specifically, he'd noticed the boy's signature within a few minutes of putting on Cerebro's headset. It had only taken as long to determine which signal was his because there were two very similar ones crossing his senses along with it, one of which was almost a spitting image. Knowing that one of them was Kim, he immediately broke his concentration on the one in London and made a mental note to talk to Ann and James about his new discovery as he dropped his focus on the one clearly coming from the mansion.

However, though he could detect the third one, he was having more trouble placing its location than he'd ever had before. Something, no doubt the Phoenix, was interfering with his senses. It wasn't able to block him completely, but the best he'd managed to do so far was narrow it down to somewhere around Boston.

_I have to be careful._ He thought firmly as he intensified his senses. _Focus on him too much and I'll kill him. I'm pushing it as it is._

Fighting around the Phoenix' meddling seemed like an impossible task, but as he concentrated harder and used every trick he knew, he did manage to make a little progress. Now he and Cerebro had narrowed it down to the coastal half of Boston. However, after that, he shut Cerebro down. That was the best he could do without putting Jim's life in mortal peril. It was still a lot of ground to cove, but it would have to do.

_X Men, head to Boston and search along the coastal areas. See if the public has noticed anything that might lead you to Jim. I'm sorry, but I can't narrow it down past that half of the city._He stated telepathically, already feeling the slight exasperation from the team. It was after all, a very large area he was sending them to to find one small child.

_We've got it Professor, we're on our way._ Cyclops responded. Shutting off the link, Charles placed the headset back down on the bench and turned back out of the room. Ann and James would surely want an update and there was the matter of Tim to discuss.

...

"I am sorry Aang, but there is nothing more any of us can do for you." Avatar Roku said softly, staring down at the disappointed monk sympathetically. "The abilities of those residing in this world, as you saw with Tim's new friend, are like nothing we've ever seen back home, even in the spirit world. We cannot advise you on them or help you prepare for them."

"Have any of you learnt anything new that might help Jim?" Aang asked desperately. They were close to getting Jim back, they had to figure out how to stop the phoenix from controlling him soon. "I know Yangchen said that his telepathy's the key, but he doesn't know the first thing about controlling it yet. What else can we do?"

"That is a question that you should be asking Professor Xavier." Roku replied. "Remember, he too is a telepath, and a very advanced one at that. if anyone can help Jim learn what he needs to, he can.

"Remember Aang, that you were told that you must accept the help of those who offering it in this world if you wish to stop the Phoenix and find a way home. So far, you have done that fine. However, you must also be willing to seek help from those around you. Seek out those who can help you and hope that they are willing, for the other former Avatars and I won't be able to guide you through much of this at all. We can offer our council in morality and lessons we have learned during our lives, but this world is far too different for us to know anything of much use concerning it."

"I see." Aang sighed. That wasn't the answer he had hoped for. However, Roku had still given him enough to calm himself down. He was right, Professor Xavier was the best hope he had of obtaining all of his goals. He had to ask him his questions and hope that he could provide sufficient answers. "Thank you for the advice Roku."

"For what little it is worth." Roku chuckled lightly. "But you are welcome Aang. Now, if you have calmed yourself enough, it is time for you to return to the physical plane. The answers you seek all lie there and possibly right at your fingertips."

"See you later Roku." Aang smiled warmly before closing his eyes.

"Aang. Aang. Can you hear me?"

"The boy is just coming out of a deep trance Ann. Give him just a moment."

He blinked slowly as the two soft voices met his ears, rousing him back quicker than he was used to. As his eyes readjusted, he found himself staring into the blue eyes of Ann and couldn't help but smile. The warmth and relief was back in her blue orbs. Not that she'd been cold or anything, but the motherly affection that Aang had quickly come to associating with her had been completely absent since Jim disappeared, replaced by desperation and despair. To see it back could only mean one very good piece of news had just been delivered.

"Has there been any progress?" Aang asked, wanting confirmation as he stared at one face to another, James and Xavier watching him from closer to the door.

"Yes. We thought you and Tim would want to know that I found Jim's general location and the X Men have already taken off to find him." Xavier nodded reassuringly.

"Where is Tim anyway? I thought he was off in his own world on the couch." James asked, growing a little worried at the sudden absence of his son.

"A boy came in and pulled him out of it before practically dragging him outside when they realised that they kept interrupting my meditation." Aang replied, immediately calming the father down. "I think he said his name was...Multiple. Man, what a weird name." He added, frowning curiously at the afterthought.

"I see." Xavier commented, a small smile growing on his face as the trio turned to him. "I'm not surprised. Multiple, or Jamie if you prefer his real name, was the one to spot your plane and was very excited at the idea of making a new friend. I believe that it was only an empty threat from Jean that kept him away for as long as he did. He's never had many friends and most of those he does are older than him. He's an unusual case where his mutation appeared very early in life and of course, caused a lot of adverse reactions on the people around him."

"Then he must be really resilient." Aang commented, frowning slightly. "He didn't show a single sign of trust issues or pain."

"His parents shielded him from most of it. He was unaware of most prejudices directed his way." Xavier explained before a slightly sad look crossed his face. "The only problem was that they shielded him from too much of the world, leaving him very innocent and lonely. So now that he's here and exposed to so much more, he is extremely excitable and keen on making friends. Which of course still proved difficult before mutants were exposed because he has so little control over his power and even harder now that most of the world knows what he is. Spending time with Tim will be very good for him."

"And good for Tim." Aang added with a smile to the Possibles. "Tim was acting like the guy I met again, happy and smiling. I think Multiple's the best thing that's happened to him since I showed up."

"Really?" Ann asked, her eyes watering as she smiled joyfully at Aang's nod. Today was just getting better and better. If she was lucky, Jim would be back by nightfall and Tim would be his usual, energetic, troublemaking self. She honestly hadn't known what felt worse, not knowing where one of her boys were or watching her broken child fall apart into a mere shell of his true self. Knowing that both horrible situations were about to end felt too good to be true.

"I'll go tell Tim. I wanna see the look on his face when he hears this." Aang grinned before running out the door. The adults barely had time to blink before he was far beyond their vision.

"That boy's combination of abilities are simply astounding. He could very well be what mutants may one day evolve into." Xavier mused, highly impressed at what he sure was a side effect of the boy's power over the air. However, he quickly let the subject drop as he turned back to the much more relaxed Possible parents hugging on the loveseat. "I also have some more information to give you. This time it concerns Tim."

"Tim?" James asked, tightening his grip on his wife as she tensed, both sets of eyes narrowing as they turned to the Professor. "What about him? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong James." Xavier said soothingly, waving his hands. "He's perfectly fine. However, while I was searching for Jim, I found two signatures that were very similar to his. This usually occurs when mutants are close relatives, like cousins or siblings. One was in London, which I'm assuming was Kim. The other was coming from this very institute. And since the two of you are adults and would have already discovered your powers if you were mutants, that leaves Tim."

"Tim's a mutant too?" Ann gasped, horrified for her child. She knew that there was a good chance of it, especially after Jim's power was discovered, but she'd hoped that he'd be normal. Not that she had anything against mutants, never, it was just that she, like any mother, wanted her children to live happy and safe lives. At the moment, neither aspect was likely if they possessed a power. The only way it would be possible was if they were like Kim and could hide their powers indefinitely. "You're positive? It can't be anyone else?"

"I'm afraid not." Xavier sighed, shaking his head. He expected Ann's reaction to this. she was a wonderful mother who wouldn't care if her child was warped into looking like a demon. Her children being mutants would never be a problem for her in itself, he knew that, but the deep-seated fear of what others would do to them because of it filled her with nothing but terror.

"Then...what can he do? Is it something that can stay unnoticed?" James asked hesitantly, just as scared for his son. Like his wife, he wouldn't care if the boy turned into something like Beast, but the rest of the world...

"I don't know, Cerebro doesn't inform me of their powers." Xavier said calmly, using his telepathy to help sooth their minds. "However, whatever it is, the ability has already awoken, so if you haven't noticed it, then it's definitely easy enough to hide if Tim wishes to remain unknown."

"Are you sure it's awakened? Tim hasn't mentioned anything about having a power of his own." Ann mumbled nervously, chewing on her lip.

"Yes, it definitely has." Xavier nodded. "Cerebro is a very advanced system design to enhance the powers of a telepath. However, it was also designed to detect active X gene carriers worldwide. Normal humans and mutants give off different mental signatures, but a dormant mutant's is exactly the same as a normal human's until their powers surface, so if I can sense Tim with Cerebro, then his power has awakened. The question now is what will you do with this knowledge? Like Kim and Jim, he would be perfectly accepted here, where he could learn to control his powers alongside other mutants if you wish to take up my offer."

"We'll figure that out when the mess with Jim is over." James shook his head, a little overwhelmed. "One problem at a time. If Tim's power's still a secret even to himself then it's not a major priority right now and I can't deal with all this at once." Ann just nodded in agreement before sinking into his side, looking thoroughly worn out.

"Of course, I understand." Xavier smiled understandingly. "I merely felt that you should be aware of his gift and offer my help. You can take all the time you need to decide whether or not to take it. After all, I would never put a time limit on my offer, it will be there for the rest of Tim's life."

"So, back to Jim." James cleared his throat, bringing the conversation back on track. "Do you really think that you can help him with the Phoenix?"

"To remove it, no, it's highly unlikely." Xavier shook his head sadly, offering the grief stricken parents an apologetic look. "However, Aang did say that Jim's telepathy might be of use containing it's mind. The problem is that Jim lacks the training to do it himself. However, if he and I work together, our combined powers and my experience we should be able to create a series of mental locks and barriers and cut off the Phoenix' mind from overpowering Jim's. Basically, my plan, just as Aang mentioned in his story about Yangchen, is to lock the Phoenix away so deep in Jim that it cannot harm him or anyone else again."

"Well, that's better than nothing." James sighed, pulling his wife close again. He'd hoped that they'd get rid of it completely, but he'd take what he could get. "Do you need any help from us?" He asked, running through every possible thing a rocket scientist and a brain surgeon could do. Normally, it was a LOT, but he wasn't sure anything they knew would help with possession.

"Just be there for him when I'm done." Charles answered, smiling warmly. "And maybe help calm him down. With all this going on, he's sure to be panicked and may have a few emotional issues. Though nothing that you and Tim can't resolve I'm sure. " He added confidently, quelling any surges of panic.

"Thank you Professor Xavier." Ann said softly after a few moments, her watery eyes reflecting a great deal of gratitude. "We could never repay you for your help."

"You are most welcome Ann." Xavier responded with a small smile. "I am always happy to help anyone that I can."

...

"They must have been really annoyed after we all walked out of their class the first time, because the very next lesson they made a long speech and Jean levitated us in the air. the next thing we knew, Scott's beam was flying up and bouncing off the walls and stuff before cleanly cutting an apple in half. I never knew his blast could possibly touch anything without destroying it!" Jamie exclaimed excitedly, waving his arms around for emphasis. Tim found it particularly funny when Jamie seemed to feel that his own hands weren't enough and created duplicates to aid him in the wild hand movements. "After that we started actually paying attention. After all, you never know what this physics stuff might help us do with our own powers. Although, I still haven't found a use for it like the others did." He finished, looking slightly annoyed at the end.

"I'm sure you'll find something." Tim said encouragingly from his place on the water fountain, absentmindedly making whirlpools in the water with his finger. The two of them had spent the whole time telling each other about the amusing and exciting situations they'd landed in, from mutant business and Kim's missions to goofing off and experiments. So far, Tim's favourite story had been the one where Jamie had messed with the Danger Room settings when his classmates snuck in and refused to let him come along. It was something he and Jim would have done to Kim if they were given the chance.

"So, what do you do for fun? You know, besides the science stuff." Jamie asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet. seriously, did the kid ever run out of energy?

"Jim and I were the school mascots. The Pep Puppies." Tim replied. Grinning, he pulled himself onto his feet and back flipped onto his hands before springing up and landing perfectly on one foot with his other three limbs sticking out in a cheer pose. "We also played soccer before moving on to high school and we spent the rest of our free time watching extreme sports on the TV or at the Pizzeria. What about you?"

"I like basketball." Jamie said quickly, gazing joyfully over at the court. "And usually I join in with whatever the others are doing if they let me. Mr McCoy tries getting us to play a lot of games in his classes, but they always turn into a mutant version, so that's always fun. I feel bad for Mr McCoy sometimes though, he usually has to duck and hide."

"I'll have to check that out sometime. That sounds like a lot of fun." Tim grinned, getting an excited nod from Jamie.

"Oh it is. You know, Mr McCoy wants us to play tennis tomorrow. You should come check it out, it's bound to turn into power play."

"Sweet! I'll be there." Tim cheered, pumping a fist into the air.

"Hey guys!" A shout met their ears, causing both boys to look towards the mansion. But before they even finished turning their heads, the wind had already hit their faces and Aang had come to a stop behind them.

"Wow, I thought only Quick Silver could run that fast! I thought your powers were the elements, what else can you do?" Jamie asked. Aang and Tim could practically see stars in his eyes.

"Um, that was an extra perk of Airbending. I can also project my voice. I think Ann said it was like I was using a megaphone." Aang responded, turning questioningly to Tim at the end as the boy nodded.

"Wow! You've got to be one of the coolest mutants I've ever met." Jamie grinned, before realisation struck him. "Oh, but you're not a mutant are you? You're a...bender? what's the difference?"

"We can get to that in a minute." Tim interrupted. His face turned much more serious as he stared at Aang. "What do you know? What's going on?"

"Professor Xavier found Jim's location and his team is already on its way to get him. He should be here by nightfall." Aang answered brightly. The misplaced monk and young mutant watched joyfully as the information registered in Tim's mind. His eyes turned bright and teary and a larger than life smile spread right across his face. His new friends both laughed as he released a loud cheer, throwing both hands into the air, before dancing around. It was finally happening. He was getting his brother back.

"This is GREAT!" He cheered, throwing his head back with a laugh.

"When he's here, Professor Xavier will use his power to help Jim stop the Phoenix. After that, he should be his old self." Aang stated.

"Great! Then you'll still be here tomorrow." Jamie cheered, getting just as excited as Tim at the idea. "Then you guys can join in our tennis game and we can play video games and anything else we can think of."

"Video games?" Aang asked, blinking, a huge question mark popping above his head. "What are they?"

"You don't know what video games are?" Jamie cried, his eyes wide with disbelief and horror. "Code red people, we've got an emergency situation here! We need to sit this boy down in front of a TV, STAT!" With that, Jamie grabbed a thoroughly confused Aang's arm and dragged him right back to the mansion almost as fast as Aang had left it, Aang's flailing form and shaking screams right behind him. Tim could only laugh long and loud at the sight as he ran after them.

...

Wolverine scowled as he found himself staring at yet another dead end. The team had been looking for hours and the sun was already setting in the distance, but they had yet to find so much as a wisp of smoke. It was working on Wolverine's last nerve.

"Has anyone else found anything yet?" He growled into his headset as he turned back the way he came.

"_No, sorry. Wherever he is, it isn't noticeable from above._" Nightcrawler responded, teleporting from rooftop to rooftop.

"_I just got something!_" Jean called stopping Wolverine just as he was about to run screaming in a random direction. "_I asked around and discovered that a man saw what looked like a bird of fire soar over the water and towards the warehouse district while he was fishing, but thought he was seeing things._"

"_I'm not far from there. I'll check it out._" Shadow Cat stated.

"_I'll be there quickly too._" Storm added. "_Kitty, observe the area, but don't make any contact with the boy until I reach you. Jim is no doubt a scared and confused telepath and the Phoenix is a violent, overwhelming creature. Whichever one's in control is likely to be highly dangerous._"

"_You got it storm._"

"Nightcrawler, get Jean there as fast as you can too." Wolverine ordered, already running flat out towards the warehouses. "If it is Jim in control, she's the only one who might be able to prevent or undo the damage his mind tricks may do."

"_On my way._" The faint popping noise that followed was all the assurance Wolverine needed of that.

Swinging around a corner, he picked up his pace as the warehouses entered his view. He couldn't sway the really bad feeling he had about this.

...

"Please let him be in it!" Kitty groaned as she stared at what had to be at least the twentieth warehouse she'd come across. It was also the last one in the area. Add to the fact that they were all huge, with plenty of places for a small boy to hide away in, it took forever just to check one and she was getting very over it. Heck, even the other X Men, all of which had reached her by this point, were getting annoyed.

"Do you sense anything in there Jean?" Cyclops asked as Iceman flopped with a tired groan behind him.

"I'm checking, hold on." Jean muttered, placing her hands on her temples. Closing her eyes, she extended her power over the entire building. It took a few moments, but she finally brushed against it. However, she retreated the instant she touched it, shuddering as she let her focus drop.

"Oh yeah, that has to be who we're looking for." She gulped, causing more than a little concern as she paled.

"What's the boy's condition?" Wolverine asked, cutting right to the chase, as per usual.

"Jim's in control at the moment." Jean started, taking a few deep, calming breaths. "But he's scared, confused, completely lost and about to completely break down into a panic attack. And...the Phoenix' mind is just below his. He knows it's there and it's causing him to become even more terrified. It's full of so much malice and bloodlust that it's completely overwhelming."

"Which means that his untrained, out of control powers will lash out at any time." Wolverine growled, earning him nervous gulps from Shadow Cat and Iceman while Rogue and Nightcrawler backed up.

"In that case, Jean and Storm should go in first." Beast suggested, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "From what I was informed of, the Phoenix awoke from inside Jim because he was hurt and scared, a response to his emotions. Jean's telepathy should be able to counter any mental lashes he gives out and help sooth his mind while Storm has the best chance of calming him verbally. If they succeed, we shouldn't trigger the Phoenix' second takeover."

"Plus, if the Phoenix does come out to say hi, those two win most likely to survive." Wolverine nodded in agreement.

"We can't just send them in alone!" Cyclops cried in disbelief. "I'm going in too."

"No Scott." Storm said firmly, planting her hand on his shoulder and holding him firmly in place as he started for the door. "Sending just one person in could set off Jim and the Phoenix. A telepathic boy in a panic attack is dangerous on his own and this one may awaken the most powerful creature we've ever seen. The less that go in the better."

"But-"

"She's right Scott." Jean interrupted, kissing him on the cheek. "Don't worry, we'll be ok."

Cyclops stared at each of them defiantly for a moment, but seeing the resolve in their eyes, he sighed in defeat and sagged his shoulders as the girls headed towards the slowly, squeaking, opening door.

Jean and Storm were pleasantly surprised as they walked in to find that the building wouldn't be hard to search through at all. The space was taken up by large shelves, but other than a few piles of lumber and the occasional supply of power tools, it was mostly empty.

"Do you know exactly where he is?" Storm asked just loud enough for Jean to hear. They really didn't want to risk startling the boy.

"Just that he's somewhere closer to the back." Jean whispered back as she scanned the dark walkways. "I didn't risk alerting the Phoenix to my telepathy a second longer than I had to, so I pulled out the moment that I found him. Glad I did too, the two minds together would be easily enough to make even the Professor go insane."

"I see." Storm mutter, frowning deeply as they headed on past a pile of buzzsaws. The more she heard about the boy's situation, the more worried she became. At this point, if Jean were to use her power to enter his mind, the Phoenix would undoubtedly lash out against them and if she repelled Jim's power, that may very well shock him enough to bring the Phoenix to the surface too. they would have to tread VERY lightly for this one.

Rounding a shelf corner full of lumber, Jean took two steps before freezing in place as the sound of rapid, ragged breathing met her ears, storm stopping behind her not a second later. Narrowing their eyes, they scanned the entire area before them until they found a small, curled up figure blanketed by shadow.

Both women had to fight the instant urge to run up and give the boy a hug as they watched him. for all the dangerous powers inside of him, it was plain as day that he was just a scared, innocent kid. His body was shaking visibly, even though he was darkened by the shadows and shaky sobs frequently left his mouth. He had his back to them, but it didn't take a genius to know he was crying. And from such short range, both Storm and Jean could feel the fear and dread that coursed through him in waves. In his emotional state, his unrestrained telepathy was projecting his emotions to anyone nearby.

"You poor, poor child." Storm muttered softly, trying to stop her own tears as she took slow steps towards the distraught young man. "Jim? Jim, it's ok." She said as softly and soothingly as she could as she reached halfway to him and crouched down.

Hearing her voice, Jim's body instantly tensed and his eyes widened, completely thrown off by another person's presence. Watching carefully however, Jean was easily able to predict the incoming mental attack and easily blocked it. She had to admit that it was an impressive blast, but he was young, his power not having the time needed to grow to its full extent yet, and he didn't know how to attack properly. Nothing her well developed power level and skill couldn't handle.

"Jim, you don't have to be afraid of us." Storm continued as motherly and reassuringly as she could. "My name is Ororo and this is Jean. Your parents came to us to ask for our help in finding you. We only want to help you."

"Help me?" Jim sobbed, turning around and jerking the women's urge to cry again. the look on his face was one of terror and heartbreak. "Why would you help me? I had to have killed someone with that explosion at my school. I didn't mean to, but I couldn't control myself and the next thing I know I'm being yelled at by some guy in an alley before I got images from his head and he collapsed screaming. No matter how hard I try, I can't stop hu-hurting people." Jean quickly brought up her mental defences again as Jim's breakdown unintentionally unleashed another psychic attack their way. "Why would you want to help me? Something's in me that-that's pure evil and I can't...I can't control it. I can feel it but I...can't stop it. Get out of here! PLEASE! Before I hurt you too." He screamed, collapsing to the ground as his body was wracked with sobs.

"We're not going to leave you." Storm said soothingly, slowly making her way to the boy. "We are mutants, just like you Jim. Jean's even a telepath and is more than skilled enough to protect us from your telepathy. And we know how to help you handle the creature inside you too." She added as she reached him, placing a comforting hand on his shaking shoulder.

"You...you can?" Jim asked between sobs, looking up with hope. "H-how?"

"At our mansion lives Professor Charles Xavier. He knows more about mutants than anyone and is the most powerful telepath in the world. If anyone can help you get control over the Phoenix and your own power, it's him." Storm answered affectionately, moving her arm to wrap it around Jim's back. "Your family and Aang are waiting for you there too. They're all really worried about you. What do you say? Will you come back with us?"

"Tim's there? With Mom, Dad and Aang?" Jim sniffed as he looked right into Storm's eyes, desperate for confirmation. "And Professor Xavier really is powerful enough to help me?"

"There is no one who could possibly provide better help." Storm nodded with a warm smile.

"Ok." Jim said quietly, slowly standing up as Jean relaxed. A good sign, it meant that he was finally calming down. "I'll go wi..." However, he never finished his sentence, as his eyes widened and his whole body went rigid.

"STORM, MOVE!" Jean screamed not a second later, horror struck as she felt it. Within a second the Phoenix had just gone from dormant to dominating within the boy's head.

Taking heed, Storm ripped herself away from Jim with particularly strong gust of wind right as Jim screamed, heralding the intense flames surging from his body. Continuing to back up as the flames only continued to grow, the women watched with horrified fascination as the flames shaped themselves into a very detailed phoenix that continued to grow until its enormous head was less than an inch away from the high ceiling.

"So much power." Storm gasped, unable to stop gaping like a fish at the sheer size of the fiery creature. "How can one boy contain so much power? This bird has to be as powerful as Apocalypse himself at least."

"Think about it later, we have to get out of here." Jean cried, levitating into the air and flying towards the door as the Phoenix let loose a screech, storm covering her ears in pain as she followed.

Unfortunately, the Phoenix would have none of it. With another cry, it threw out its wings and unleashed huge ring of fire from its being that surged through the entire warehouse.

"NO!" Storm cried panickedly, grabbing Jean's arm. Seeing that it painfully clear that they'd never escaped the blast, she pulled Jean to an immediate halt and, with her eyes glowing white, threw up her arms and created the biggest wind vortex she could around them. as the flames hit, the wind, though barely and with great strain on Storm's reserves, managed to protect them and redirect the fire away as the building blew up.

"Ugh!" Groaning with exhaustion, Storm slumped to her hands and knees the moment the flames died down, her whirlwind going with it.

"Storm, we've gotta move!" Jean cried as she grabbed Storm's shoulders, biting her lip fearfully as the Phoenix stared at them through the rubble. It didn't stay that way long though, for in the time it took Jean to blink, the Phoenix was right on top of them. screeching again, it raised its fiery foot and brought it straight down on them.

Screaming in wide eyed terror, Jean unleashed a power wave of raw, telekinetic energy right at it, but it barely made the foot twitch up before it continued down just as fast as before and wrapping its talons around both of them, consuming them in flames.

...

"JEAN! STORM!" Cyclops screamed, pale and shaking as he forced himself right back onto his feet. One moment the team had been waiting for any sign of progress and the next the warehouse had exploded and left all of them at the mercy of a particularly vicious shockwave. Iceman, Wolverine and Shadowcat were the only ones still conscious besides him, but Cyclops wasn't worried about the others right now. they were relatively fine, but the object of his affections and Storm were right in the brunt of the flames. At that point, their safety was all he cared about.

"Iceman, get those flames out NOW!" He ordered before running straight for the wall of fire, not even waiting for a response. Seeing that it was do as he said or watch Cyclops burn to a crisp, Iceman spared just enough time to grunt irritably as he gave his unconscious comrades a glance to make sure they were ok before blasting as much icy energy as he could at the flames.

"Scott, stay back!" Shadowcat cried, stiffening at the sight before her even as the flames turned to ice. "There's no way you can handle this on your own!"

Even if Cyclops had cared for what Shadowcat had to say, it would have been thrown out the window anyway, for at that instant, a loud, horror filled and _familiar_ scream pierced through the air.

"JEAN!" Cyclops bellowed as he released an optical blast right at the ice in his path, vaporising it, and ran right into the centre of the warehouse. "JEAN, STORM, WHERE ARE YOU?" He cried desperately, turning his head from one direction to another so fast that it was miracle that his neck didn't snap. However, not a single trace of either of them could be found. All he could find was burning wood, scorched and melting metal and- a burst of fire that looked like a bird's foot coming right at him!

"No!" Wolverine grunted as he tackled Cyclops, pushing him to the ground and rolling away right before the talons could reach him. Pulling themselves back to their feet, the duo looked up as a furious screech met their ears and found themselves glaring fearfully and hatefully at a very impressive fire bird.

"We've got to get out of here." Wolverine growled, clenching his fists so tight that he started bleeding before his power kicked in. "We don't stand a chance against that thing." He added, hating himself for admitting it.

"No, I won't leave without Jean." Cyclops snapped heatedly, raising his hand to his visor snarled at the beast.

"Don't be a fool!" Wolverine snapped back just as intensely, grabbing Cyclops' arm and jerking him away as the Phoenix suddenly released a flamethrower from its mouth. By the time it ended a few seconds later, the metal scrap that had been in the line of fire were nothing but grey puddles. "I hate it as much as you do, but you know what has most likely happened to them! And if we stay, then we will do nothing but ensure that it happens to us." He growled, dragging Cyclops forcefully along with him as he head back the way they came. "We have to grab the others and get the heck out of here. If Jean and Storm are still alive, they'll find their way back to the jet, you can count on that."

"But..." Cyclops started as they made it back out to the others, but stopped and took a deep breath as he finally took note of the others. Iceman and Shadowcat were more or less alright, but the others were defenceless and the Phoenix was right behind them. If they didn't get them out of there now they wouldn't survive.

However, survival seemed impossible for even the best of them, for with another ear splitting screech, the Phoenix flapped its wings and flew right over the gathered X Men, eliciting horror struck screams from the younger, conscious duo.

"Get them out of here! I'll hold it off!" Cyclops shouted, thinking fast. It would mean his death, but at this point it was the only way. so, just as the Phoenix' foot came down upon them again, he grabbed his visor and ripped it right off, unleashing a devastating beam so powerful that it left even a being as powerful as the Phoenix halting in surprise.

But even that wasn't enough, for only a moment later the Phoenix started forcing it's foot down, albeit at a fairly slower pace. Watching on in sheer terror as the talons reached the ground before they could move more than a foot, it registered in everyone's minds that their fate was sealed.

That is, except for one. Acting fast, Shadowcat dived and grabbed onto the first body she found, which turned out to be Beast's, and snapped her arm out blindly, latching on to Iceman's leg before turning all three of them intangible and phasing through the ground, earning a scared scream from Iceman. The Phoenix curled its talons in just as the last of Iceman's head sunk through the ground and Cyclops sunk to his knees defeated, consuming him, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Rogue in flames. By the time it raised its leg and flew off, not a speck of them could be found.

Screeching once more in victory, the Phoenix soared through the sky faster than anyone could follow it right to the X Jet, as if it had known it was there all along, before unleashing another wave of fire with a flap of its wing and destroying it with a bang. With its job done, it once again took off.

Back at the battlefield, Shadowcat slowly raised her remaining two teammates back above ground just as the fire engine sirens reached the area. Though they knew that they should leave, neither she, nor Iceman could find the strength to stand. Instead, they simply collapsed into each others' arms and cried.


	7. Chapter 7

**From Bad To Worse**

The joy that Tim and Aang had found in Jamie's company lasted a good while, though Jamie face palmed himself and told Aang to do the same more than once, much to his confusion, when the young monk continuously failed to drive his race car anywhere but into a wall. Eventually the young mutant gave up on verbal directions, gave Tim his remote control wheel and guided Aang's hands with his own until he could actually make it to the end of the track. He never seemed to notice the snickers from Tim at the sight, or the chuckles from Sam, Amara and Ray as they walked by. Though, neither did Aang.

However, as the sun set and dinner was prepared, their happiness was beginning to wane again. and not just there's but Mr and Mrs Possible's too. Even Professor Xavier was growing very concerned. They'd expected the team to have at least given them an update by now, if not be close to home, but they'd heard nothing. They'd managed to hold their worry at bay with logic, after all, half of Boston was a very big place with any places to hide a small boy, but with no word of progress it could only hold back so much worry for so long. Especially for Charles, who knew how his team operated. He knew that he should have heard something by now, good or bad.

Passing over dinner as his guests and remaining students dined, he headed straight down to the lower levels and rolled his way right to Cerebro. He'd just opened the door when his telepathy caught a mind in close proximity.

"I'm surprised that you managed to get away from Jamie and your parents." Charles commented without so much as turning around. A small grin crossed his face as Tim tensed behind him before looking back at the sheepish teen. "What brings you down here at dinner time?"

"The same thing as you." Tim answered, raising a challenging eyebrow. "I want to know what's going on. Something's wrong, you can't hide that from me."

"Hmm, I see you have good intuition." Charles said, slightly intrigued as he headed into Cerebro, waving a hand for Tim to follow. "Considering your older sister and twin brother are both mutants, you might want to keep an eye on that trait. It may be a mutation of your own."

"I doubt it. I've always known when something's wrong with Jim and him me. even before his power appeared." Tim shook his head before starring around the large, dome shaped room. In an instant his worries disappeared again, his natural curiosity taking over. "What is this place exactly?"

"This is Cerebro." Charles said proudly as he made his way to the desk hanging in the very centre of the room. "This entire room is one big system that works to amplify telepathic powers far beyond what they're capable of. And with a telepath as powerful as myself, it extends my reach to the furthest corners of the Earth. It even helps its user find mutants they've never met or even known about. It's how I found Jim before."

"And you're going to use it to find him and your team now?" Tim asked, observing the system with critical eyes as Charles put on the head set. It surprised him how advanced this system was...and yet he could somehow tell just how it work! That surprised him even more.

"Yes, and try to contact them telepathically. I already tried their communicators, but they've all gone either offline or gotten damaged." Xavier said with a sigh, not even having to look at Tim to know that he'd connected the dots.

"That would mean that there was a fight!" He gasped, barely holding back his panic.

"Yes. Let's hope everything went ok." With that, Xavier activated the system and motioned for Tim to stay quiet as he searched for their missing families. However, what he found came as a painful shock. Focusing harder failed to change a thing, but still he pressed on, hoping beyond hope that he was wrong.

"Professor?" Tim asked softly, his voice shaking with worry as he watched the man before him scrunch his face harder and harder. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but before he could utter a single word, his eye caught a flash from the centre of the headset and he saw it: three signals identified as Shadowcat, Beast and Iceman. The rest , including Jim's was nowhere to be seen.

"They're gone." His whispered surprising Xavier right out of his search as he fell to his knees. "Only three can be found. The rest...Jim...they're all gone."

"...Yes, it appears to be the case." Charles said numbly. Looking up at the middle aged man, Tim saw a mirror image of all the pain he felt in Charles' eye before he clenched them shut, his face overflowing with heartache. "Though...don't worry about Jim. If...if the Phoenix took over...then I can't..." He couldn't finish his sentence as a sob echoed throughout the chamber, but Tim understood. Jim was shielded while the Phoenix was active. But that wouldn't explain what happened to the X Men.

His eyes stinging, Charles almost took the headset off before a voice met his mind.

_Professor? Was that you?_

_Kitty? Are you ok? What happened?_ He asked, his mind finally registering that three were still there. Who knows what condition they were in?

_I don't know exactly how it happened, but one minute everything was quiet and then there was an explosion._ She answered, sounding ready to completely break down. Despite his pain, Xavier still managed to feel a bit of pride bubbling inside him. Even after everything that she must have just gone through, Kitty was still able to hold back her grief in a pressing situation. _The Phoenix burst out of the building Jean and Storm went in to talk to the kid and attacked us. It threw down its talon on us and consumed everyone before flying off. I just managed to phase through the ground with an unconscious Beast and Iceman and when we came back up, everyone and the bird were gone. Bobby and I are currently running away and looking for a place to hide from the cops and fire fighters. Oh and the jet's been destroyed, so we're stranded here._

_Just find a place to lay low and make sure Hank's ok. I'll find you a way back, I promise. I'll be there as soon as I can._

_Alright. See you soon._ With that, he shut the system down and took off the headset before crumbling, dropping his face into his hands and holding himself up with his elbows on the console as his frame shook and tears poured down his face. His students, his staff, his family, almost all of them were gone.

Unsure what to do, Tim forced himself to his feet and placed his hand on Charles' shoulder. He really did feel horrible for him. What he was feeling had to be at least as bad as what Tim was and Tim had gone catatonic. He had no idea what to say or do, especially since it was his family that they were helping when the team headed into mortal peril.

"I know that it's a stupid question and the answer's no doubt no, but are you alright?" Tim asked, concern evident in his voice. Lifting his head, Xavier let a small smile cross his crying face as he stared into sympathetic and understanding blue eyes.

"Not really, no. but I'll manage for now. We'll have to inform everyone else of this. better it be now while I'm still a little numb." He answered as he turned around and headed down the catwalk, back into the hallway and towards the elevator. _This will not be easy for anyone to take._ He thought as he hit the button and opened the elevator door. Desperate for a distraction, even if it was only for a moment, Xavier hit the up button and turned to Tim. "Have you spoken to your parents since Jamie found you?"

"No, I've spent the whole day with Jamie and Aang. I haven't seen them, why?" He asked, thoroughly confused at the sudden change in topic.

"Because when I was searching for your brother before, I detected another new mutant with an almost identical signature coming from the Institute. You're the only possible source." Xavier explained before letting his statement sink in. Just as expected, Tim's jaw dropped in shock at that, his eyes bugging out. Clearly, despite all the mutant powers appearing in his family, he hadn't expected even slightly to have one himself. "I was curious about that intuition of yours before because it is clearly very impressive and for me and Cerebro to detect your mutation, it must have already awakened."

"I'm a mutant?" Tim gaped, not really registering much else. How could that be? He wasn't like Jim, he hadn't shown a single sign of power, right? And what would his power be? Obviously it wasn't telepathy, he wasn't randomly reading people's minds. Although, that thing before in Cerebro, seeing the three dots and knowing who they were, even though only a telepath wearing the headset should have seen it, that was kinda weird. Did he actually read the Professor's mind, see what he saw? But then again, the flash that showed it to him came from the headset, not the professor himself. This was all too confusing.

The boy was so deep in rapid moving thoughts that he didn't even notice that the elevator had stopped. It took a small cough from Xavier to snap him out of it and have him follow the Professor before the doors closed again and head out into the dining room. However, the walk was all it took to remind both of them of the upcoming announcement that Charles would have to make.

However, as he passed a window, a small, but quickly growing orange light caught his gaze and delivering sad news instantly disappeared from his mind as blind panic took over. The light was heading right for them and as it approached the shape of a bird quickly grew more and more detailed.

"Oh my God." Xavier whispered, watching with horror filled eyes. The creature's eyes were clearly locked on his school, even from a distance, and it was already too late to escape. However, that didn't mean that he wasn't going to try and save as many of the kids as he could. Whipping his head around, he started with a white as a sheet Tim. "Quickly, get back in the elevator and go underground. You'll be safe down there, go!"

"But my parents and the others-"

"I'll get to them, but you have to go NOW!" Xavier interrupted firmly. Determined to end this and save him, he boosted his words with his telepathy, amplifying his urge to get to safety a hundred fold. It worked instantly, for Tim took off at a run before Xavier had even finished talking and was already heading down by the time Xavier had reach the dining room.

"Everyone, get underground fast!" Xavier demanded, startling everyone as he burst into the room. "The X Men have failed and for whatever reason, the Phoenix is coming right here! we have about a minute to get to safety!"

"What? That's not enough time to get underground!" Ray cried as he and the other students jumped to their feet alongside Aang and the Possibles.

"I know, I'll try to hold it off, just hurry!" Xavier responded, fully intending to amplify their flight urge like he had Tim's. Meanwhile, Aang ran straight to the window as the light coming through grew more intense, Jamie running after him, and felt his heart stop as he watched the Phoenix soaring right for his friends, promising doom and destruction, for the second time within a week.

"Where's Tim!" Ann screamed, refusing to move as she looked around wildly for her son.

"He's already down below, just like we-"

"GET DOWN!" Jamie roared as a bird screech hit the mansion with so much force that the windows were shattered and everyone was left screaming in pain with their hands over their ears.

Keeping his eyes on the window while everyone else scrunched their eyes shut in pain as they dropped to the ground, Aang felt his heart restart and go straight into overdrive as the heat of the rising Phoenix hit his face. His eyes following it up into the sky, he watched as it hovered for a second before the flames that made its wings seemed to bulk like balloons all along them, almost like...

"Everyone GET OUT!" Aang screamed as the Phoenix flapped its wings down hard and released a meteor shower right at the building. Spinning and twirling his arms around as fast as he could, he filled the room with the strongest whirlwind he could, causing more than one scream from those caught in it, and with a thrust of his palms sent everyone flying out the windows before following them out just as the flame streaks hit the mansion, blowing the whole building up.

"AAAAHHHHH!" The screams instantly got Aang turning back to the burning building and he almost joined them as the flames blew out their way. At their speed versus the fire, they would still be quickly burnt to a crisp, particularly him and Jamie. Hyperventilating, he grabbed the screaming Jamie and pulled him close behind him before pulling his hands back to his sides and thrusting them forward, creating a huge gale of wind and blowing the flames around them back. At the same time, the wind propelled the two of them further away from the building and before long they were right out of harm's way, leaving him free to spread his gale to better protect the others.

Unfortunately, it was too much and the others were too scattered. Before he could do a thing to help them, Amara had already taken a heavy blow from a busted support beam and was out cold. And though her power protected her from the danger of fire, the others were already shrieking in pain as the furthest reaching flames licked their skin and the concussive force of the explosion enhanced the speed they were already flying with. Roberto crashed into a tree with a smoking Ray bouncing along the ground beside it. Sam crashed into the fountain and knocked it down where it smashed into a million pieces before he belly flopped into the water with a pain filled whimper. Only his head wasn't submerged. Though considering the multiple large burns covering his arms, chest and legs, the water probably felt pretty good to him.

"Ann." James grunted hoarsely, holding his wife protectively to his chest as they ploughed into the dirt and rolled. Their motion didn't stop until both their shoulders hit the fence, setting off yet another pained scream from both of them. Around the same time, a heavily burned Charles land hard on the footpath, barely stopping his head from cracking open on the hard cement with his arm and a very painful roll onto the grass before losing consciousness.

"AAAHHH...phew!" Jamie however, was fortunate enough to stay right by Aang's side. Right as the two of them were about to meet a rather gruesome end through impalement on the thick tree branches, Aang pulled his outstretched, wavy arms into a spin and halted them in midair before dropping them gently to the ground. "Man, that was close. Just one more second and we would have been goners."

Aang wasn't paying even the slightest bit of attention, choosing instead to focus on the bleak, horrid sight of a burning pile of rubble before him and the badly wounded people around him. Closing his eyes, he stomped his foot hard against the ground hard enough to send tremors throughout the area, causing a startled cry from Jamie as the ground near Aang actually visibly shook from the force. Using everything Toph had taught him, he quickly used the tremors to check on the others and actually felt a little relief as each of their heartbeats connected small vibrations with his own small quake, all of them beating strong. His relief doubled again as the tremor went on however, to reveal something big underground. Stomping again and succeeding in sending Jamie falling onto his butt, he checked it again and found that it was seemingly hollow. That could only mean that the explosion didn't do much, if any damage to it.

_Which means Tim should be alright._ He thought, letting out a breath that he hadn't realised he'd been holding, only to suck it right back in as his fear widened eyes flew up to the sky again. However, he quickly let it out again. Strangely enough, the Phoenix was already flying away. That confused him greatly. He and Jamie were clearly fine and the groans and twitches from many of the others was clear proof that they were alive too. on top of that, there was plenty of other things to destroy in the area, so why was it flying away so soon?

"Professor!" As Jamie's voice hit his ear, he quickly pushed back his curiosity as the very bad situation re-registered in his mind. As Jamie ran straight to Xavier, trying and failing to get a response from him before moving on to Sam, Aang ran straight to the Possibles.

"Ann? James? Are you two conscious?" He asked, worry stricken as he gently pulled them apart only to flinch at the sight of blackened skin on Ann's arm and leg and James' back, among other bad wounds. James clearly had a broken shoulder and foot to go with everything else.

"A-Aang? Are you 0...k? W-where's Tim?" Ann slurred and hissed, her voice losing strength as she talked.

"Don't worry, I'm ok and Tim should be fine." Aang said as reassuringly as he could as he checked over their wounds, only to bite his lip helplessly. Their injuries were far too much for his minor talent in First Aid to do much of anything. Fortunately, the sirens of what Tim and Jim had called an ambulance had already reach his ears and was growing steadily louder. Medics would get there very soon. "Is there anything you two need before the ambulance gets here? I can't do much, but I can try to help."

"We'll be alright while we wait." James grunted softly, his voice barely audible. "Just find Tim. And help the others."

Nodding, Aang ran as fast as he could around the yard, stopping before each and every fallen person and freeing them from any debris that had pelted and buried them before moving them into the recovery position as painlessly as he could. Frequently stomping the ground and checking their pulses allowed him a small amount of relief that they were all still stable, however, it was clear to even the most medically hopeless of people that they were all in very bad condition and in need of a hospital.

"They need help fast." He muttered to himself, sighing gratefully as the sirens continued to grow louder. Help was almost there. Wanting to speed it up as much as he could, he turned to the fence and with a stomp and a punch, he sent a boulder surging out of the ground and ploughing into the gate, breaking it right off its hinges and clearing the way for the vehicles just as they turned a corner and barrelled into view.

Sighing deeply, Aang was just about to relax when he noticed more details of the rushing vehicles. Not all of them were what the Possibles had described as ambulances, some of them matched the police cars he'd seen on the news and others were vans that had symbols of the media on the sides.

"Jamie, why are the cops and reporters coming here too?" Aang asked, not sure whether or not to be worried. He got an immediate answer to that though as Jamie whipped his head up and let out a scared scream.

"This is really BAD! The cops and reporters will claim we did it and lock us up or kill us. They'll assume that we're really violent mutants and take us away and we may never see anyone again!"

"What?" Aang cried, his eyes bulging from their sockets. "Can't we just explain what happened?"

"They won't care! We're unharmed, they'll assume that we were involved." Jamie shook his head as his whole body shook enough to create a duplicate. "The others should be ok because they're victims, they can't accuse them of too much without evidence, but we're defenceless! We gotta run!"

"Then get us into the underground!" Aang cried, grabbing his arm and running to the rubble as fast as he could. The force of their stop caused a number of clones to shoot out of Jamie, but rather than reabsorb them like he did before, he sent them instantly around the area he was sure had held the elevator.

"Come on, come on!" Jamie muttered quickly as the first vehicles made it through the opened gate, throwing metal shrapnel away. A couple of seconds later, two of the clones tossed a clump of burnt wood and smiled as they found a deep hole with damaged metal walls, causing the real Jamie's head to instantly snap up to Aang with a smile. "Over there!"

Confused, Aang just followed the excitable teen as all but two clones were reabsorbed only for understanding to dawn on him with an 'oh' as he noticed a hole between the remaining clones. Figuring that Jamie must be mentally connected to each clone, he grabbed the original and jumped down, slowing their decent with an updraft.

Reaching what had to be the mangled remains of the elevator, Aang spun and thrust his open palms down and busted off a twisted, metal panel and jumped through the newly made hole before repeating the process with the damaged door.

"Ok, we're in, but where's Tim?" Jamie asked, looking around wildly. "We have to find him and get out of here before anyone follows us, but this place is huge! He could be anywhere."

"I've got him." Aang said as he stomped his foot and closed his eyes again. "He's in a room straight ahead of us that's shaped like a ball."

"Cerebro!" Jamie smiled, taking off instantly. "Let's go!"

...

Having quickly discovered that going back up after the explosion was impossible, Tim had spent most of his time since then fiddling with Cerebro. He knew that only a telepath was supposed to be able to use it, but seeing as he caught a glimpse before, he was hoping he could make it happen again. unfortunately, even after he put on the headset and turned it up to full power, it had yet to work.

"Come on, do something!" He cried desperately, focusing as hard as he could on the machine, willing it to work. It still wasn't enough though, no signatures registered in his mind at all. At least at first that is, for just as the veins on Tim's forehead bulged noticeably, his vision changed. However, instead of seeing a grid with identifiable signals from other mutants, he was nearly overwhelmed with a simply huge amount of data. It moved faster than was humanly possible to read and vanished almost an instant later and yet somehow, Tim had absorbed it all. Every schematic of the institute, every file of mutants the system had ever found, the configuration of all the defences around the school and every shred of detail on the Cerebro system's programming and how to alter it.

"Aww, overload." He groaned, falling to his knees as he took off the headset and rubbed his temples, trying to stop the huge headache from forming. It was around that moment that the door opened and he turned with a relieved, albeit slightly pained, smile as he saw Jamie and Aang run his way.

"Oh good, you two are ok. How is everyone else?" He asked, groaning as he forced himself onto his feet and leaned back on the console for support. His grin dropped as he saw their panicked and troubled faces. "What's wrong?"

"The others are all going to need a hospital. Don't worry, everyone's alive." Aang added hastily as Tim's pain was forgotten, replaced by pure horror before continuing quickly. "And they should all recover fine, but there is no way that they're leaving your hospitals for a while. The ambulances are already here."

"What about the Phoenix? What about Jim?" Tim asked, his breathing becoming as erratic as his face was panicked.

"It launched one attack and then took off again. it didn't even try to finish us off." Aang said, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"So we have to look for Jim again." Tim sighed, staring at the floor sadly. Things really hadn't turned out how he'd hoped. More like the polar opposite. Jim had taken off again and his best chance of finding and saving him was going to be bed ridden in a hospital for who knew how long. And so were his parents. Speaking of which... "Come on, let's go back outside. I wanna see Mom and Dad."

"We can't!" Jamie cried, wide eyed and sharing his panic with Tim. What could have happened now, a cave in? "The cops and media vultures showed up! They'll blame this whole mess on mutants to the world and since we're unharmed, they'll assume we did it an arrest and lock us away. We had to run just so we wouldn't get caught when they entered the grounds."

"You ran away in plain sight of the cops?" Tim asked incredulously, slapping himself in the face with a groan as Jamie nodded. "Without an fire or explosion based powers or any evidence that you did it, they would have had to let you go after questioning, mutant or not mutant. By running away in plain sight, you've made yourselves look suspicious."

"Either way, it's too late now." Aang said firmly as Tim's exasperated look clashed with Jamie's sheepish one, placing a reassuring hand on Jamie's shoulder as he faced Tim. "We have to find a way out of here that won't lead right to them and find out where Jim went. We're the only people who might be able to bring him back to the Professor for help now."

"What about the X Men?" Jamie asked. "They failed to stop the Phoenix, but that doesn't-"

"All but three are gone. Cerebro couldn't detect the others when Xavier tried to contact them." Tim shook his head, unable to look at Jamie as he turned stiff as stone.

"What? They're...no, that can't be right." Jamie sobbed, tears already falling from his eyes. Beside him, Aang bit his lip and shut his eyes tight as sadness and guilt wracked him. he had brought the Phoenix to this world after all and so he couldn't stop feeling responsible for the resulting destruction. Feeling Jamie shaking under his hand, he moved it so his arm was wrapped comfortingly around the boy's shoulders as he cried.

"We should move." Tim muttered hesitantly, forcing himself to look up sympathetically. "If all the adults are hospitalised or...missing, then the cops will at the very least try to put us in a foster care centre or, more likely, in an isolated care system to keep us away from the normal kids and I'm not ok with that. I'm going to find Jim and help him one way or the other. I just want to make sure my parents will be ok for myself and then follow that fiery pain in the butt across the globe if I have to."

"I'm in. As a nomad, I'm always up for a road trip." Aang said with a small grin. After all, this was starting to sound similar to his adventures back home. The idea of globetrotting was the norm for him, it made him feel a little more at home. "And if we go and visit the hospital, we can get Jamie to Xavier safely."

"Y-you're joking right?" Jamie asked fiercely, startling the others so much that their eyes bugged out and their jaws hit the floor. Even as he wiped his tears away, Jamie looked more focused and determined than they'd even thought he was capable of. "I'm coming with you. I want to help you get Jim back and I want to make sure the Phoenix can't hurt my friends again. Besides, staying here will get me stuck in the foster situation and I don't want that. I want to go on this mission. With you guys."

"If that's what you want, them I say welcome aboard." Tim said with a nod, an action Aang repeated a moment later with a small grin. Jamie looked like he was prepared to fight for his right to come along like he usually had to, but at their response, his stubborn look turned from shock to excitement within seconds, followed instantly by a loud, excited cheer.

The other two just let him go on enjoying himself, knowing that his grief over his fallen friends would return and depress him soon. Turning back to the console, Tim picked up the headset again and frowned as a thought occurred in his head.

"What's up Tim? Is something else wrong?" _Not that we don't have enough issues._ Aang added silently as he watched Tim's eyes examine everything before him.

"No, but something might actually go right." Tim answered, instantly drawing both companions' interest. "This system amplifies telepathic powers. In here, it allows the telepath to track mutants and humans anywhere in the world as well as the usual abilities of their power, but while that trick only works here, the headset can be taken anywhere with a small system connecting to it and still amplify the telepath's natural abilities."

"Yeah, Jean used it to compete with the Professor when Apocalypse controlled him." Jamie nodded with a frown, not quite sure where this was going. Aang however, had a light bulb light up over his head.

"So if we take it, we can use it to enhance Jim's telepathy when he's in control of his body and give him a better chance against the Phoenix' mind." He said with a bright smile. Perhaps, if Jim could learn a little about his power, they wouldn't even need the Professor.

"Exactly. But this will all be pointless if we don't get out of here soon." Tim nodded, frowning as distant voices began to echo throughout the room. "So I say we head to the hangar exit, visit the nearest hospital to make sure everyone's fine and follow the Phoenix. After this, it has got to hit the news again, so we should be able to follow it."

"If the news says nothing on where it went, we'll try New York City first. The Phoenix flew off in that direction." Jamie stated as they left the room and headed towards the hangar, only to jolt in surprise as it registered that Tim was leading the way to a place he'd never been to before. "Hey, how do you know about the hangar and its exit's location anyway?"

"I think it's because of my power." Tim replied, shocking both boys following him as they ran. "Professor Xavier said that I was a mutant too and I think it has something to do with machines. I shouldn't be able to do anything with Cerebro, but it gave me a lot of information in an instant and just by looking at a machine I somehow just know how it works. I think it's called techno telepathy."

"Cool! But it hasn't told you everything. Stop here for a second." Jamie said as he pulled to a halt right in front of what looked like a row of lockers. Opening the doors, one of which had Multiple written across the front, he pulled out a backpack, which he slung over his shoulders, and two large duffle bags that he tossed to the others. Finally, he pulled out a large First Aid kit and well packed tent.

"What's all this stuff?" Aang asked as he took the tent, testing the weight of his duffle bag.

"My backpack has a few changes of clothes, both uniform and civilian stuff and those bags have survival equipment and enough food to last us a week. Wolverine taught us to take this stuff if we go on a long mission or if we're being chased. There's also enough money to keep our bellies full for a while and to hide out at cheap hotels if we need to without leaving a trail."

"Not that many hotels will accept a trio of kids booking a room without determining us runaways, but that all sounds good. Now let's go." Tim said hastily as the voices behind them grew louder. As they ran flat out again, Aang felt slight tremors coming from the ruined elevator, indicating that someone had entered the underground and doubled his pace, grabbing his startled friends and speeding them up as he passed them. Reaching an open door, they ran through it and found themselves in a simply huge room that had to be the hangar and kept going to the far side. Towards the closed, enormous doors.

Not wanting to slow down, Tim prayed that he was right about his power and narrowed his eyes at the door, concentrating on willing it to open. For a moment nothing happened and it seemed that Aang would have to stop them, but right as Aang was starting to slow them down, the loud, echoing bangs of moving metal met their ears as the stars started sparkling before them. Smiling, Tim let out a whoop as the hard metal under his running feet turned to stone. Looking back, he repeated the process and shut the doors just as cops yelling for them to stop came into view, laughing as the clunks of what had to be them colliding with the metal met his ears. With that, they continued on right along the water's edge until they no longer looked suspicious and followed Jamie's directions to the hospital, with Tim praying that Aang was right and everyone, especially his parents, were going to be alright.

...

Though night had long fallen, New York City was still alive with lights, action and a crowded, compacted freeway. It was a wonder if the people of this city ever slept, they seemed to be eternally active.

So of course, there were plenty of people to hear the screech of a giant bird and watch as a bird of fire flew right over the Statue of Liberty before curving back into the city.


	8. Chapter 8

**Mobs, Scandals and Dragon Scales**

"_I am live at the Boston warehouse district where last night the city was given a horrible explosion-"_

"_Reports claim it to be the work of a powerful and dangerous mutant-"_

"_The event has been confirmed to possess the same M.O. as the Middleton High School tragedy-"_

"_Following the exit of what everyone is describing as a giant fire bird, this 'phoenix' made an appearance at the Xavier Institute, a well known mutant school, not an hour later and blew it up too."_

"_Sources report that three people were spotting fleeing from the scene. One of them was large, blue and believed to be Hank McCoy of the Xavier Institute. He was being carried away by two teenagers and looked heavily injured."_

"_Dozens of reports have flown into the police office since last night with hundreds of people claiming that this fire bird appeared over New York City. What was first assumed as a strange fireworks display has now caused a state of panic in many parts of the city."_

"_Mutants are a threat to society and must be dealt with now."_ Exclaimed a particularly vicious looking man standing next to the reporter. _"We've let these menaces run wild for far too long already. Someone has to put a stop to their actions of this plague now!"_

No matter what channel Jake Long flipped to, the same thing appeared and with every new channel, his scowl grew. The fire mutant making a scene was a disaster of several kinds and it was only the simple fact that he had no idea where it was that was stopping the young dragon from going off to kick his/her butt. As the guy being interviewed continued with his 'die mutants die' speech, Haley even noticed Jake nodding now and again and sighed sadly.

Haley knew that her brother was actually very against this guy's opinion. In fact, when mutants were first revealed to the world, Jake had grown excited, or at least he did after it was determined that mutants were in no way magical and everyone could stop stressing about the magical world's cover being blown. The magical community in general found that it was great, as if they were somehow noticed by any mortals, they would just be deemed mutants. They were able to blend in a little better, even if the people they were taken for were still often treated aggressively. But Jake took it further, seeing a possible future. If all the humans were to evolve into mutants, then everyone would have powers and the magical world wouldn't need to hide anymore. But even if that didn't happen, when the day came when society wasn't wary of mutants, the same process could begin again. No one would have to hide who they were anymore. The problem was that the mutants abusing their powers halted progress and this new one was a walking time bomb. Whoever it was, he was creating so much fear and destruction that the 'kill all mutants' party was only going to grow significantly stronger, to the point that the Government itself was likely to get involved. It was how fear worked. If one super powered human was that strong and evil for a lack of a better word, then the others must be just as bad. Coupled with the humans' need to be the dominating power, anything stronger had to go.

It was a shame that all the good that Charles Xavier's X Men had done for the world could be overshadowed by one rogue mutant.

"I can't watch this anymore." Jake growled as he shut off the TV and tossed the remote down with such rage that smoke was coming out of his nose. He looked about ready to barbeque the TV. "Stupid mutant. I bet it's that Pyro guy, he's always out looking for something to burn. Now people are going to be on the lookout for mutants and who knows how many magical creatures they'll find and hurt in the process!"

"Don't worry so much Jake, we can still turn this around." Haley said calmly, giving Jake her angel smile that she knew tended to drive him crazy. "If he shows up in New York again, we'll just have to take him down and let the world think that it was a shapeshifting mutant that handed him to the cops. With 'mutant saves the day' crossing the headlines, a lot of the hype will die down."

"And where would we find a shapeshifting mutant?" Jake asked exasperatedly, only to blush at his own stupidity as he turned to see the 'are you retarded?' look on her face. "Oh right, dragon form."

"Bingo Einstein." Haley said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Now if you're done asking stupid questions, I have a school to go to." With that, she jumped up and took off and followed her mother out to the car, muttering about all the possible places Jake's brain might have taken off to the whole way.

...

"Augh! Where am I?" Jim groaned groggily, forcing himself up only to grow even more confused as his limbs stumbled over moving woodchips. Opening his bleary eyes, it took him a few minutes to register that he was in a playground and another minute to realise that he didn't have a clue where on Earth this playground was.

"At least it's empty." He muttered to himself as he sat up. Empty areas meant that there were no other minds to tap into. No other minds meant that he knew exactly what thoughts were his. It was much more peaceful that way.

The only problem was that without any distractions, Jim's mind quickly recovered his last memories. His last moment at school before everything was consumed by a fire coming from him and horrified screams. Waking up in an alley in Boston feeling something dark and malicious in his head, along with the very real possibility that he'd incinerated his own twin brother. Becoming overloaded with people's thoughts and causing a few to collapse before the dark presence in his head started overwhelming him. Running desperately for a place to be alone and curling up inside a warehouse until the mutant women found him. And finally, calming down and agreeing to go with them right before the bloodthirsty thing inside him overrode his mind and once again consumed everything in fire.

"H-how many did I k-k-kill this time?" He stuttered, breathing shakily as he curled himself back into a ball, his eyes beginning to sting again. He did have the comfort of knowing that he hadn't killed Tim, meaning that others around him during his fiery blackouts were probably still alive too, but it was completely overwhelmed by his grief and guilt. Though he remembered nothing else of what happened when the mind and flames dominated him, he did remember the horror and pain filled screams. It was more than enough to send him into an emotional breakdown, rocking back and forth as he cried, sobbed and shook.

He had to have been that way for an hour before something touched his mind. Freezing stone still in horror for a second as he felt his out of control telepathy brush a trio of minds entering his range, he fell into a full blown panic and ran as far from them as possible before he'd even registered that he was on his feet.

_Gotta move. Gotta move. Ignore the guy's thoughts about the Rose girl, get out of range._ Played over and over in his mind as he desperately tried to pull his mind away from a clearly love struck teenager and his amused friends. He was in such a desperate state that he completely missed two significant things.

"Um, did anyone else hear someone say ignore the guy's thoughts about the Rose girl and something about getting out of range in their heads or was it just me?" A brown haired boy asked, frowning at his friends.

"You too? I thought I was just imaginin that." An African girl replied before looking pointedly at Jake. "And just what types of thoughts were you having Jakey?" She asked slyly.

"Nothing I wanna tell you." Jake cried, blushing darkly and refusing to meet his friends' smirking faces. However, his embarrassment was quickly forgotten as realisation struck home. If they heard someone say that, then the person... "Someone's entering our minds!" He cried, the other two sucking in deep, shocked breaths in response. "That is really bad."

"No kidding! We all have lots of private stuff up there. Who does this punk think he is, looking around my mind?" Trixie ranted, placing her hands on her hips and looking around wildly for the perpetrator.

"Trix, this worse than just a cause for a little embarrassment!" Jake cried, starting to hyperventilate. "If they went too far into any of our heads then they know my scaly secret. And think of all the other magical secrets this guy could discover in New York?"

"Basically every single one in the world. Like every magical creature in existence comes around here." Spud nodded solemnly.

"Guys, we're cutting school." Jake said firmly, making an instant about face. "We have to find Gramps."

Even after they ran back the way they came, Jim didn't notice the second situation until it was too late. In his haste to avoid their minds, Jim had ran straight towards the busy streets.

...

Jim's breathing only became more and more erratic as he kept on running, groaning and whimpering every few seconds. No matter where he ran, more and more people were walking the streets and occupying the buildings and with everyone he passed, another mind came and went through the constant garble of thoughts inside his head. This in turn only caused his panic to grow and by extension cause his powers to slip even further out of control.

"Hey, what was that?" A woman cried, shocked and confused as a hand moved to her head, everyone around her looking just as confused. As their minds continued to inform him of what they were thinking, feeling and experiencing, Jim silently curse to himself and tried to pick up the pace as he realised that his powers had gone further out of control with a new twist. Instead of advancing into the mental attack his panicked state tended to dish out, he'd just shared not only his thoughts to everyone in range, but also made everyone in tune with him aware of everyone else's too. It had only lasted for a moment or two, but already many people were turning angrily on each other from what they'd heard. Meanwhile, others had turned to another fact, horrifying Jim even more, if that was possible.

"I just heard other people's thoughts! There's a mutant playing around here!"

"Yeah, that had to be a mutant, I heard them too."

"How do we know one of you two isn't the mutant?"

"Oh please, you're probably trying to cover up for yourself, you mind raper!" A woman yelled, batting a man over the head with her bag.

"OW! Knock it off! How do we know you're not the mutant!" The man growled, pushing the woman roughly away only for her friends to turn furiously on him.

"How dare you lay a hand on a woman!" One snarled as they pushed other people aside to approach him.

"Hey, it's called equality, not woman dominance. If she hits me, I will retaliate! Now back off! Are you mutants too?"

"Oh no." Jim whimpered as more and more people got involved, accusing each other with forever growing anger and aggression. Overloaded with mental anguish, Jim threw himself into an alley and ran as far back into as he could. Finding the closed end, he ran behind a large garbage bin, pushed it further from the wall and sunk onto his knees, holding his head as he cried. It was too much, too many voices, too much aggression, too many thoughts and emotions for him to handle. It didn't take long for dizziness and nausea to take over and his limbs grew weak. Combining his own grief with the thoughts and feelings of everyone on the block and the fact that he hadn't eaten since his lunch at school two days ago, his mind quickly found itself being consumed by darkness. And despite that it meant nothing good, he welcomed it.

...

"GRAMPS!" Jake shouted, startling Foo right off his seat as he threw the store door open. Lao Shi however, merely looked up at his beloved grandson with concern.

"Jake, what are you doing here? You should be at school by now." He asked, partially scolding him, though it was clear that he was more worried about his grandson than irritated.

"We might have a big problem of the exposure variety." Jake exclaimed, causing both Lao Shi and Foo to stiffen, their eyes widening. "Someone managed to get into our minds. We all heard a voice in our heads and from what it said, we knew that whoever it was, they'd been hearing my thoughts."

"Were you thinking something dragon related?" Lao Shi asked as Foo blubbered and floundered beside him.

"No...it was more romantically related." Jake answered hesitantly, blushing slightly again before pressing on. "But that's not the point. The point is that some mind reader is wondering around listening to people's thoughts in the largest hidden magical community in all of America. They could find out and expose anything."

"Maybe it's someone magical." Foo suggested nervously, only mildly relieved by Jake's mind residing elsewhere when it was read, much like Loa Shi. "There are some wizards that can learn how to do it."

"I don't think so." Spud shook his head, surprising everyone with the serious tone of his voice. "When we heard the voice, he sounded like it was talking to himself. He didn't want to read Jake's mind, he wanted to get away from it."

"Maybe whoever it was decided Jake's mind was just too scary a place." Trixie suggested with a smirk, causing Jake to blush and glare at her at the same time.

"Hmm. Did the voice sound desperate?" Loa Shi asked, rubbing his chin. The others had to stop and think about it for a second, but Spud nodded his head instantly, the others following him a few seconds later. "Spud, you said he. What did this voice sound like exactly?"

"Like a boy that had just reached the beginning of the voice changing stage." Spud replied.

"Then all the clues are pointing one of these mutants. Probably one that is new to his telepathic power."

"Great! Just what we need." Jake face palmed with a groan. "First a fire mutant travelling the country and blowing up buildings coming to New York and now we have a kid telepath prying into everyone's thoughts. Like there isn't enough potential disaster with just one of them around."

"The two cases may not be coincidental." Loa Shi stated, running through everything he'd learned about mutants. And considering that he felt the same way about the possible future their existence created, he had made an effort to learn a great deal about them since they were revealed. "With fear and prejudice so easy to come by, mutants often seek out their own kind. Look at the X Men and the Brotherhood in Bayville for example. One of these two mutants may be looking for the other for many different reasons, ranging from learning to control their new power to recruiting each other for good or evil purposes. But enough of this now, we must find the telepath before he does real damage."

"You mean like this?" Trixie asked sarcastically, pointing at the TV. On screen a huge fight could be seen as policemen ran in from all directions, trying to pull the brawlers apart. 'Brawl of the Mind Reader' was clear and bolded at the bottom of the screen.

"Uh-oh!" Foo gulped nervously as he grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.

"_More and more people continue to get involved even as the police force are trying everything they can to break it up."_ The reporter stated as the camera drew back to bring her on screen, staying well away from the action. _"According to the few witnesses that pulled out of the scene as soon as they could, this began when everyone in the area heard each others' thoughts. Panicked and angry, wild accusations were made about who the mutant responsible was which resulted in this mess. However, some people believe that the mutant is long gone."_

"_No one's heard anything but their own thoughts in their heads for a while now."_ Said an old man as he appeared on screen. The guy had a black eye, all the proof that anyone needed that he was there when all this began, but he looked too sad and disappointed to claim that he'd been violent himself. _"In fact, that first time was actually the last I'm aware of, not that I'm surprised. When all the accusations first started, I noticed a kid running away. It stuck out because he was holding his head and looked miserable before the mind reading thing started and after he only looked more pained and panicked. Personally, I think he's the mutant and I think this was an accident. The poor whipper snapper looked like he was in more pain than anyone I've ever seen. I think he lost control."_

"_This reporter can agree when we say that the mind sharing event has not made a repeat performance."_ The reporter continued as she came back on screen. _"However, it is safe to say that not everyone shares this sweet old man's sympathy for an out of control mutant power."_ She added as the camera went back to the brawl just in time to see one old lady knock away a cop's baton and jab his foot with her walking stick before a man came up and clocked him.

"This is bad." Was all Jake could say as the fight only continued to get worse.

"We must find this boy before the wrong people do and try to calm him down." Loa Shi stated firmly, drawing everyone's nervous looks to him. "Telepaths can do a lot more than just share people's thoughts. They can attack the mind, leaving their victims in comatose states, or even dead. They can warp personalities and trap people in illusions. If he's found by the wrong people, he may not only be in danger, but they will be as well."

"Besides, who knows how many secrets he's carrying that we don't want getting out by now?" Foo added.

"Well, at least we know where to look." Jake commented, turning back to the TV just in time to cringe. He wasn't a surgeon, but he was pretty sure that bones weren't supposed to bend that way.

...

Far off within the city, another group of people were making their own plans for the mutant. New York City had recently become a nest of strange events, despite how much the dragons tried to cover it up, and had been drawing unwanted attention for some time now. The revelation of mutants only amplified the attention and before long, William Stryker deemed it fit to base a very covert team within the city.

"Everyone get ready. We've actually got a location for this one." A man barked as he entered the room, the same man who'd been telling reporters about what a menace mutants were that morning. "I don't care if this one does turn out to be a kid, I want that muty exterminated before the sun rises tomorrow. You two!" He snapped, pointing at two men as they headed towards an armoury. "Go out there and monitor the area! Look for anyone that matches the old twit's report and monitor them. we'll meet you for the kill tonight."

"Yes sir!" They saluted simultaneously, grabbing a handful of bullets before rushing out the door. Watching the men go, the head Purifier smirked. Before this day was done, there would be one less piece of filth in the world.

...

"How far do you think he could have gone?" Spud asked with a frown, looking down one side of the street to the other. The police were still around, but they only seemed to be filing reports now as the fight had finally ended. Using his hair and hand to hide it, Jake had transformed his ear to listen in from a distance and had quickly discovered that all the fighters were either on their way home with a fine or on their way to the general hospital for a look over, but no one had any more information about the telepath and even the cops had given up searching.

"Assuming that we are right about a lack of control, he'll no doubt be fairly close by." Lao Shi responded as Jake whispered any updates he got from the cops. "The city is crawling with people, so he'd most likely find the first empty area to come his way and hide."

"So that'll have us searching...the alleys?" Trixie asked, eyeing the dark, dirty passages with disgust. "Boy, you know I'm only good with those thangs when I'm on my skateboard."

"Trix, this isn't exactly the best time to turn girly on us." Jake exclaimed as he turned his ear back to normal. "We need to get this kid outta here before he gives New York another whammy."

"Jake is right. Trixie, Foo you two come with me." Lao Shi stated, heading towards the left side of the street. "Jake, Spud, you two take the alleys on the left. But remember, the trigger to a mental power, be it magical or mutant, is emotional stress. No matter what do not cause any increases in his negative state. If you don't feel that you can keep him calm, come get me."

"You got it Gramps." Jake called as he took off at a run. Spud quickly followed behind.

As they broke into their groups, none of them noticed the men a single store away. Having listened in on their whole conversation, they shared a look before splitting up and slipping out of sight, one following Jake and Spud while the other followed Lao Shi and Trixie.

...

"You know, someone should really clean these places up. They look and smell worse than a dump." Spud groaned, holding his nose as they made their way down yet another alley filled with garbage, rats, puddles of various liquids and about a million foul smells.

"I know what you mean, but trust me, there isn't enough money in the world to make even the grossest of janitors want that job." Jake said as he pressed on, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. He hoped with all his being that the boy they were looking for was in there just so he wouldn't have to step into another one. All three alleys they'd tried so far smelled more rank than the sewers.

_Which will be where Gramps will send us looking next if we don't find him soon._ He thought with an involuntary shiver. He really didn't want to go down there again either.

Turning a corner, he came to a sudden stop as he stared at the brick wall before him. the other two alleys had lead right to another street, but this one ended where three buildings met. It set a small spark of hope through Jake as he looked around. The buildings were quiet, most likely empty and few people would ever come down here. It was the closest thing to a good hiding place that the kid was going to find in the area.

"Aw drat. It end here and we still haven't found him." Spud sighed, dropping his head and sagging disappointedly. "I can't hear him talking about avoiding Rose thoughts either, so I guess he's not here."

"Hey, I am NOT currently thinking about Rose!" Jake cried, crossing his arms indignantly. "And there's lots of stuff for him to hide behind around here. Let's look around before we leave."

"Yeah, why not?" Spud shrugged, heading over to a pile of boxes. Going to the wall opposite him, Jake pulled the lids off of a pair of garbage cans only to throw them back on as nothing but garbage and a smell that would kill a skunk was revealed. Going green in the face, he grabbed his stomach and leaned over, forcing himself to take deep breaths while taking the utmost care not to breathe with his nose at all.

Finding nothing but rats and cockroaches around the boxes, Spud moved on to the back wall and opened the lid of the large bin and looked in only to sigh when he found nothing but trash.

"Sorry Jake, but it doesn't look like he's- whoa!" Closing the bin, Spud stepped in a puddle of unidentifiable liquid and slipped, fall on his back with a thump. Groaning, he rubbed the back of his head.

"Are you ok Spud?" Jake asked worriedly, staring down at his best friend and offering him a hand.

"Yeah, I'm..." He started, reaching for Jake's hand only to freeze as he turned his head back to the bin. From the low angle he could see right under it and there was no mistaking the grime covered hand bathed in the dim light. "Hey, I think I found him." He cried excitedly, latching onto Jake's hand and jumping to his feet.

"What, where?" Jake asked only to be ignored as Spud ran to the bin. Grabbing the back corner, he shoved his shoulder into it and pushed it out, revealing a young boy with brown hair unconscious on the ground. He was dirty, pale and covered in grime from the bin and whatever was leaking from the rain gutters of the building, which made them worry for his health, but he was breathing. They'd just have to get him some help as quickly as possible.

"Hey, he's wearing green." Spud said happily as he leaned over the kid and carefully picked him up bridal style.

"How is that important?" Jake asked, raising an eyebrow confusedly.

"Because when we were in the park this morning, right before the mind reading thing started, I saw a kid with brown hair and wearing green sitting at the playground. But he was gone before it started, so I didn't think it was him at the time." Spud explained.

"Do you realise that if you mentioned that before, we could of tracked him down earlier and maybe stop the riot from ever happening?" Jake asked, piercing Spud with an annoyed glare.

"Yeah, or he might have wiped our minds clean. There's always more than one if Jake." Spud replied, completely unphased as he carried the kid back the way they came. Rubbing his temples, Jake just released an irritated groan and followed him back out. At least he could leave the stinking alleys now. Though of course, with all the crap covering the kid, the smell just might come with them.

"Gramps!" Jake called as they made it back to the street, catching Lao Shi and Trixie right before they could head into the final alley on their side. "We found him and he's not looking to good."

Lao Shi was right before them in an instant, shocking even them with speed few people his age could ever muster, and placed his hand on the boy's neck to monitor his pulse. Finding it stable, he was about to look up and hurry everyone back to the store when something triggered a flash in his mind.

Powerful and highly skilled beyond most dragons worldwide, Lao Shi had long ago mastered the mental arts of seeing auras and sensing the mystical power within others and something within the boy was intense enough to cross his senses without him even trying, a feat that to this day only the Dark Dragon had ever managed to do. Worried about such a possibility, Lao Shi place his fingers gently to the boy's temples, closed his eyes and reached out to the boy's chi with his own. What he found shocked him to the core. Though the boy's chi was normal, there was another source of ominous and enormous power hidden within. A second presence more horrifying than anything he'd ever encountered by far that could overwhelm the innocent boy at any time. Gasping deeply, he let go of the child and tried to calm himself, ignoring the confused and worried looks the others were giving him. This was very troubling news indeed.

"Get him back to the store quickly and by all that is good, do not do or say a single thing that could upset him." He demanded, pushing a startled Spud back down the street.

"Gramps, what's wrong? What happened?" Jake cried fearfully as he followed Lao Shi. He'd never seen his grandfather this scared or this pale before. Whatever he had found, it was nothing to kid about.

"We have just stumbled upon a boy possessed by the darkest, most powerful concentration of mystical power that I'd ever seen. Stressing the boy may very well release it." Lao Shi answered, causing a round of gasps as the kids and dog picked up the pace. "This just became far more dangerous. Before we even try to deal with it, I will need to call in Son and Haley for help watching over and soothing him and we'll need to speak to the Dragon Council to find a way to safely purge him of it."

"And if they don't know a way?" Trixie asked, earning a sad look from both Lao Shi and Foo as they ran.

"Then my dear, we may be forced to give the boy a fate worse than death." Lao Shi answered forlornly, staring at the boy with pitiful eyes. "The creature inside him cannot be allowed to roam free. It will kill us all."

...

Blending in with the people walking the streets once more, the two men met up and followed close behind.

"Better report this." One of them muttered, getting a nod in agreement from the other as he pulled out a cell phone. Hitting a number on speed dial, he didn't even need to wait two rings before it was answered. "We think we found the kid. He's been discovered by another group of people looking for him, most likely more mutants. We're following them now."

"_Good. Stay with them. If all goes to plan, we'll be able to remove a nest of Satin's children from the face of the Earth this night."_


	9. Chapter 9

**A Long Tragedy**

Reaching his store, Lao Shi quickly led the group out back and had Spud place the boy gently on the couch as he grabbed a damp cloth and gently wiped the grime off of his face. The more grime he removed, the more worried Lao Shi became for the child. He didn't look like he'd eaten in days and he was looking very frail. Whether it was his power or whatever was inside him that had started it, the result of his situation had left him in desperate need of help.

_And of course, anyone who would try to help you would get attacked by either your mind or the beast within._ He thought sadly as he reached out with his senses and felt the creature's aura pulse slightly under the child's significantly weakened one in response before he pulled right back. He had to be careful, it appeared that the beast was conscious and aware even when the child was not. A very rare thing indeed. If he wasn't carful, he'd unleash more than he could handle.

"So what are we going to do with him Gramps?" Jake asked softly, just as scared to wake the boy as Lao Shi was. He'd learned the hard way that anything that could make his Grampa this worried was not something you ever wanted to mess with.

"Let him rest for now." Lao Shi answered as he took away the cloth. "When he awakens, Sun and Haley will hopefully have arrived and we'll try to calm him. Until then, you and your friends should keep your distance from him young one." He added firmly, gently guiding Jake back towards the front of the store. "Though he is unconscious, I have already had to ward off a psychic attack and you haven't yet been properly trained in mental protection."

"We're capable of blocking telepathic powers?" Jake asked curiously as he sat down on a stool and leaned on a bench.

"Not very well." Lao Shi shook his head. "Weak mind reading or controlling spells can be shielded from, but under normal circumstances, even the most skilled dragons in mental protection would fail against such a powerful telepath as this boy. At the moment I can handle him though, because I'm prepared and he's only releasing random, unfocused waves. If he were conscious, they would be deadly even to me."

"So we steer clear and let Miss Park use her meditative, sooth wave mojo?" Trixie asked.

"Correct." Lao Shi nodded. "Of all the dragons I have ever met, no one has the mental powers of Sun, be that shielding her own mind or soothing and purifying those of others. If anyone can help him, it will be her. Meanwhile, we shall help Foo determine exactly what is possessing the boy and how to safely remove it."

"Good." Foo groaned as he entered the room, stumbling as he tried to keep his balance with his arms laden with large books. "Because we don't have a clue what it could be besides Omni-powerful and very evil. This could take a lot of research."

Sighing, each of the kids took a book and started flipping pages. With so little to go on and so many dark creatures in the world, this was going to take a while.

...

Haley was a little surprised as she left her school to find both her mother and her dragon teacher waiting for her. Everyone had heard about the riot some mind reading had caused by now, but she didn't think that she'd end up getting involved. Her grandfather and brother were usually the first ones on the scene and though Jake could mess things up, it was rarely to the point that they called in much backup. However, judging from their mutual frowns, it was clear that both of the most important women in her life were beyond worried about whatever was going on and all three of them were no doubt going to be getting involved.

"Hi Mommy, hi Sun. I wasn't expecting both of you here." She said sweetly, always one to keep up pretences.

"Hello Haley." Sun said warmly, though she failed to hide the fear in her eyes. That was more than enough to double the anxiety that Haley was feeling. Her dragon teacher was the master of all mental and emotional control. If even she couldn't hold up her perfect mask in the eye of the public then something was seriously wrong. "It appears we forgot something in our last lesson. We thought it would be a good idea to cover it now."

"Come on dear, your grandfather is waiting for us." Mrs Long said a little shakily as she directed them to the car. Smiling brightly, Haley skipped along behind them and waited as her Mom pulled out onto the street. It wasn't until her school had left her view that she dropped her act.

"What is going on?" She asked gravely. Turning to her, Sun let her mask fall and Haley almost shrieked at the sheer panic revealed. Nothing had ever been that bad before, ever!

"I'm sure you've already heard about the telepath incident earlier today?" Sun started, getting a nod in return. That was the biggest story of the year in New York. Well second, right after the giant firebird that disappeared in the city after destroying three places. Naturally, everyone in the city knew about it ten minutes after it happened. "Well, Lao Shi and Jake found the boy responsible and discovered that not only is he completely untrained in telepathy, but something very dark and powerful possessing him. They need us there to keep him calm and to help hold down whatever's inside of him if it gets out."

"It's stronger than Grampa and Jake combined?" Haley gaped in a state of shock. Her brother and grandfather were possibly the most powerful dragons of all after the Dark Dragon. It was why the Dark Dragon was so keen to convert or destroy them in the first place. If even they needed more help to fight this possessor... "We really should get there five minutes ago."

...

Haley was out of the car before her mother had even cut the engine and ran straight into Lao Shi's store. Looking around, she sighed in relief to find everyone still looking fine. With such a big threat in the building, she'd been worried that someone would have been hurt before she got there.

"Ah, Haley. And Sun and Susan. Thank you for coming." Lao Shi greeted quietly as he stepped out of the back room and headed straight for Sun. "The boy's telepathy is almost constantly releasing wild shots and they've gotten worse since he's started thrashing."

"Nightmares. Of course." Sun said, returning to her serene demeanour as she followed Lao Shi. "I'll see what I can do."

Haley moved to the door and stopped, wanting to see the boy, but knowing the need to keep a safe distance. Sun had been teaching her the mental arts and she was getting good at them, but she was nowhere near Sun and her grandpa's levels. A raging telepath could easily overwhelm her defences.

_He'd be cute if he wasn't so dirty._ She couldn't help thinking as Sun transformed beside him. Though his face was cleaned, his hair and clothes were matted with grime. Though it was how pale and weak he looked that had Haley worrying for him for the first time. He was too pale to be healthy and fresh tear tracks travelled right down his face. She didn't need to see his near constant thrashing or hear the pained and desperate grunts and screams coming from his mouth every few seconds to know he'd been through a series of unfortunate events. And that was clearly putting it mildly.

"Easy little one." Sun said soothingly as she floated into the air, slipping into a meditative position. "All is calm. You are safe." Pale blue light flowed slowly from her body as she spoke and bathed the boy, letting him soak it in. It appeared to have started its work as soon as it reached him, as his thrashing grew less intense until it faded into a few twitches. "Breathe in...and breathe out. Let the negative energy go. Let yourself be soothed by the positive energy hidden beneath."

Haley never could understand why people tended to look down on Sun for her preferred peace and love method of finding solutions to conflict. When it was required, she could fight like the best of them, but she chose to take the mental powers of the dragons beyond what any other had done before and almost always found a peaceful solution. Her meditative powers in particular soothed the raging beast and had prevented enormous amounts of bloodshed many times over without causing so much as a bruise. As far as she was concerned, people like her dragon teacher were the best her race had to offer.

Her talents were invaluable in clan disputes or your average mind control, and were the perfect tools for issues of great mental trauma. All the proof of that was before her now as the boy's scrunched up face softened into a pout before that disappeared too, his body relaxing. Letting out a slow breath as her work was completed, Sun dropped back to the ground and changed back to her human form, staring down worriedly at the child. Though Haley could see that it wasn't the worry and fear she'd had in the car, but a much more motherly version. It was the same look she gave Haley when she'd almost completely fallen apart during her temporary experience as the American Dragon.

"Much better." Lao Shi sighed, drawing both Haley's attention and concern to the old man. He looked rather worn out and much more frail then she remembered. It was scary seeing him look more his age.

"Grampa, are you ok?" She asked worriedly as she guided him onto a chair. Letting lout a large sigh, he turned his tired face to her and gave her a loving smile.

"Yes young one. I am merely tired. The boy's strong and his lash outs were constant. It took all my energy to block him from my mind. Do not worry, I will be fine."

"All the same, you should take this time to rest." Sun stated, not taking her eyes from the boy. "I don't know what the cause is, but his mental trauma runs very deep. I doubt that I'll be able to keep him very calm once he's conscious."

"Hopefully a shower, some food and kind company will help." Susan said as she headed towards the kitchen upstairs. "I've already called Jonathan and got him to bring some of Jake's old clothes over for him to change into and Foo just pulled out another load of books to research your possessor. I don't think there's much more we can do besides be there for the poor boy."

"You are right of course." Lao Shi nodded as he closed his eyes and sank back into the chair.

Haley moved over to the boy as Sun followed Susan upstairs, surprising herself as she grew more sympathetic than scared like she thought she'd be on the way over. She couldn't imagine what he was going through with just his own power, considering that if she didn't know how to control her powers they just didn't tend to work. But then again, was the telepathy really his? Or was it a curse inflicted on him by whatever was inside of him? And how much of an effect did this creature have on him?

There were too many questions running through her mind without answers. And every question she thought about just seemed to raise more questions. Shaking her head and deciding to deal with it when the boy could actually give her answers, she moved on past him and sat down at the computer, clicking on to the magical community's hidden internet. Deciding to join in on the research, she brought up the search engine and began hunting down exorcisms. After all, creature books weren't getting the others very far. Searching up unusual exorcisms may help provide a hint as to what they were dealing with. Besides, what was the point of discovering the creature's identity if they didn't know how to remove it?

"You'll have to look up the strongest of exorcisms my dear." Lao Shi called softly as he looked up, staring at her with a slightly impressed gaze. "The creature is the darkest thing that I have ever encountered. It would take a great deal of power to purge him of it."

"Well, that should narrow it down." Haley muttered, frowning at the screen. "Why would I need an exorcism for magical fleas? Hasn't the magical community ever heard of bug spray? I mean seriously, who's ever heard of a flea that possesses you?"

...

Waking up this time felt very different from Jim's recent returns to consciousness. For a start, somehow he felt much calmer. He was just as aware of his situation as he was every other time he woke up, but it was like his urge to panic had been completely repressed. However, this didn't do anything to stop his confusion.

He'd moved again. Even still half asleep, he was fully aware that he was far from where he'd collapsed. For a start, he'd fallen unconscious on the hard, grime covered ground in a small space behind a garbage bin, but here he had plenty of moving space and, more importantly, the surface below him was soft and comfortable. His sleep addled mind determined that he was on a couch.

"Huh?" He groaned as his mind registered the discovery, waking up much faster and opening his eyes. Looking around, his breathing hitched nervously as he found himself in a lounging area with the walls covered in shelves holding strange looking bottles, thick books and mixing equipment that looked like it came from both a lab and kitchen. The couch he was laying on took up another wall and the one next to it had a desk and computer on it. Plus a girl of Asian descent and one or two years younger than him turning in her chair to face him.

"Hi there. We were wondering when you'd wake up." She said sweetly, closing down whatever she was looking at before jumping up and heading over to him. "I'm Haley Long. What's your name?"

"J-Jim Possible." Jim stuttered, taking a deep, nervous breath. Yet again he was waking up to the sight of yet another person and this one was much younger than any of them before her. His breathing deepened as he realised that she could quite easily be his next victim. "Why did you bring me here?" He asked. However, he couldn't help but notice that his panic was much more controlled than it was before. Less intense. But all the same, he could still feel his telepathy start to awaken. Fortunately, it was rather tame compared to what he'd felt before and it was only emotions that he was picking up. The strongest he sensed, which he thought was coming from Haley considering the close proximity, was mostly concern, but there were plenty sources of irritation, desperation, nervousness and fear within his range. Which, of course, started to increase the work of his power as he experienced them.

Seeing the constant shifts of emotions, Haley guessed what was happening instantly, but instead of panicking like her body wanted to, she used everything Sun had taught her and forced herself to be as calm and serene as she could.

"Sun, I need your help down here please." She called as casually as she could before turning back to Jim and taking his hand in hers. Surprised at the physical contact, Jim snapped his eyes right into hers and was amazed by the calm pools he found in them. It was the complete opposite to what he'd been feeling for far too long and he found himself unable to break their gaze, wishing with all his heart that he could leave the storm he was suffering through and bask in her soothing gaze.

"Jim, ignore everything else. Just focus on me." She said softly, her tone as reassuring as possible. "I'm trained to maintain control over my mind and emotions. You're incapable of stopping your power right now, right?" She asked, getting a pained nod in return. "Then don't stop it. Just focus on me, what I'm feeling and thinking. Focus on the one stream of thoughts and feelings and let the others fall into the background."

"I'll try." He whimpered as he grabbed his head, a headache starting to form. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and focused on the closest mind to him. It took a few moments and it didn't help that everyone else seemed to be moving closer, but one by one, the voices and feelings of everyone else became quieter, more distant. As more minds fell further back, he was able to grab more firmly onto Haley's serene mind and slowly he let it consume him.

Beside him, not flinching even as she felt him grip slightly on her mind, Haley smiled, relieved as his facial muscles relaxed, followed by the rest of them, and his breathing calmed. He'd accidentally created a two way connection with her as he'd clung onto her mind, but that only reassured Haley as she felt his fear and panic slipping further back into his mind. It was still there, but as long as he was focusing on her mind, his issues were being held at bay.

It made Haley feel proud of her accomplishment and proved to be a perfectly satisfactory method to keep him calm long enough for Sun to return. Jim, focusing only on the heavenly feeling that was a warm, calm mind, never noticed Sun as she transformed and floated before him once again. Within a second, she'd taken to her meditative position and expelled her pale, blue light once again, bathing Jim in its glow.

"It's alright young boy. Just breathe. Fear will only corrupt you. Let your worries go."

Though the initial surprise of a blue hitting him and the fact that it was coming from a dragon of all things caused an increase in his distress, Jim couldn't help but feel a sense of calm coming from his own mind as it danced over his skin, taking a few long breaths, he released his death grip on Haley's mind and relaxed into his own, now pleasant, mind. He forgot nothing, but despite how traumatic it all was, he couldn't find it in him to worry. Even the dark presence inside him was affected. Jim was amazed as it shrunk back from his mind, letting go of its hostility, if only slightly. He almost jolted a minute later as he focused on it. Just as he was going to pull away from its receding consciousness, a part of its mind brushed his and he felt...warm, apologetic. And something else. Mulling it over for a few moments, his eyes widened in realisation. The only thing he'd ever felt like that before was his mother. Back when he was young and she'd carry him in her arms and rub her cheek against his head as he buried it in her neck. Affectionate. Loving.

It was the last thing he'd expected to ever feel from the malicious beast. Well, that and the fact that it actually reassured him.

"Wow. You really do have a gift for promoting the peace and love thing Miss Park." Jim muttered blissfully, opening his eyes with a grin as she settled back and changed back to human form.

"Why thank you, young man." Sun responded warmly completely unphased by his apparent knowledge. "I take it that your mind has picked up some information as to who we are and why we are here?"

"I know that you can turn into dragons, you want to help me and are searching for an idea as to what's inside of me." Jim stated with a nod. "Let me save you some time on that last one. It's called the Phoenix. It's a being made of cosmic fire and trusts me; you don't want it getting out. You want it to stay inside me."

"Phoenix?" Haley asked, tensing as a very distinct image flashed through her head. "You mean, you're the fire bird that flew into the city last night?" She asked, forcing her voice to stay casual. She didn't want to set him off, especially if that was the case. That bird was dangerous.

"Yeah, that's probably right." Jim nodded, completely unphased by her change in posture. "I don't have much memory of what it does when it comes out. Mostly my consciousness ends with fire exploding from me. I hear a couple of screams from time to time, but otherwise it's a complete blackout until I wake up somewhere miles away from where I was. I thought that it might have happened again when I woke up here." He explained. Now he was starting to feel a little nervous again. Whatever Sun did, it wasn't enough to keep him completely calm while recalling those memories.

"Well, we'll worry about that later." Sun said soothingly, seeing the signs of distress the second they appeared and opting to change the subject. It was best that they let him retain his peace of mind for as long as they could. "Why don't we get you cleaned up? There's a shower and a change of clothes for you upstairs and when you're done, we can set you up with some food. You look like you could use a good meal." She added with a small smile, offering him her hand.

Scrunching up his nose in disgust as he took a good look and smell of himself, Jim nodded his head and took the hand in his, letting her help him to his feet. He stumbled the second he rose and almost fell over, his body low on energy, but Sun was there in an instant and held him close to her side. Once again, being held close to a motherly woman, Jim felt himself completely relax into her side as they walked towards the stairs. This felt good. And for the first time since that day at school, nothing gave him even the slightest need to worry. Sun's gift had effectively suppressed all of his problems. And Haley's advice had actually worked. He still couldn't stop his telepathy from kicking in, but narrowing it to one mind made it a whole lot easier to handle.

Maybe, just maybe, they could save him.

...

"I found it!" Foo cried proudly as he jumped up from his place on the ground, startling the kids. While Jim was taking his time in the shower, Haley and Sun informed the others of everything Jim had said and they quickly went to work. It didn't take Foo long to find it now that he had an idea as what to look for. After all, there weren't many creatures that even came close to the boy's description.

"Well let's see what you've got Foo." Jake exclaimed impatiently, tossing his tome to the ground.

"Yeah, yeah, ya go kid." Foo drawled, placing the book on the bench and opening it. An instant later, orange magic rose from the page and gathered into a ball before turning into a beautiful bird made of fire. "The Phoenix is a very ancient creature that predates every currently existing magical creature in the world. It was originally a pre-evolved form of a magical bird that was somehow thrust into the space. However, instead of dying, its body became infused with the power cosmic energy of the sun and was given new life and extraordinary power, beyond even our wildest dreams. It returned to the Earth a little while later and ruled over the magical world, creating a golden era of peace and harmony."

"Peace and harmony? That thing's as far from the hippie trail as you can get!" Jake exclaimed, throwing his hands up dramatically. "Are you sure we're talking about the same guy?"

"Yes, young one." Lao Shi said gravely from the doorway, causing everyone to freeze at the sheer level of dread emanating off of him in waves. "The Phoenix was the one who originally asked the dragons to help protect the other creatures. We always a noble race and a powerful one after all and the Phoenix could not be everywhere at once or solve every issue without risking fear and resentment appearing because they felt of the sheer amount of power it possessed was being pointed their way if the Phoenix sided against them in the argument. All of the elder dragons are made aware of this past as they reach the point of watching over the Dragon Order."

"So what happened?" Jake asked, running a hand nervously through his hair. "This is not the same benevolent bird we are talking about now."

"No one knows kid." Foo answered with a shrug as he turned back to the book. "Over time, dark forces started plotting against the Phoenix, hoping to gain its power under their control. They approached it one day and were never seen again. The Phoenix destroyed them."

"But they had done something to the Phoenix." Lao Shi continued morbidly as he stared at the floor. "After destroying them, it went on a rampage and destroyed everything in its path. The dragons, wizards and many other creatures tried to stop it only to lose their lives until one day it just disappeared, never to be seen again."

"Until now." Haley shivered, more than a little freaked out. "If a world sized magical army couldn't stop it back then, how can we hope to stop it now?"

"Magic has grown and evolved since then. And now the mortals have given birth to powerful mutants as well." Sun reminded them. "Just because the key to stopping its tirade didn't exist back then, does not mean that it doesn't exist now."

"I have already sent word of this to the Dragon Council." Lao Shi added as he closed the book before passing mortals could see it. "Hopefully they will be able to find a solution to our problem. Until then, we must do all we can to keep Jim calm and aid him in controlling his power. If we can succeed, the Phoenix shall remain dormant, at least for a while. If we fail, then all of existence is in danger. So, no pressure, but until he learns to control his telepathy, keep your emotions focused on calm and happy."

"No problem gramps. I'll just think of bunnies." Spud said with a bright smile.

"Ok then, you do that." Jake said awkwardly, raising an unsure eyebrow. Sometimes he worried about Spud's mental state.

"Can Miss P just keep up her relaxation mojo on the kid?" Trixie asked, tilting her head curiously.

"It's affects are of great assistance, but even they have their limits. Alone, she can only delay his problems, not resolve them. We need to find an actual solution for him to be free of his panic permanently." Lao Shi shook his head. "And that is something that will take time."

...

Within his hidden HQ, the captain was sifting through updates. His men had been reporting to him via emails every time they learned something new, as they were trained, and today that proved to be a lot.

They'd followed the group to an electronics store full of merchandise that was outdated by five or ten years. Two cars had arrived throughout the day, bringing two women, a little girl and a man. The dog in the building could talk, walk on two feet and read books, no doubt another mutant. One of the women was also definitely a mutant, able to transform into a dragon and release a blue light from her body. And finally, the boy they had found was definitely their original target and was identified as Jim Possible, the third child of James and Ann Possible and baby brother to the world famous hero Kim Possible.

All of it intrigued him and reassured him that he was right in assuming they were all mutants. Either way, they would all die tonight, if not for being mutants then for siding with them. But it was the boy's identity that caused him to frown.

Kim Possible was a very well known hero, responsible for saving the world more than a dozen times. As a result, she'd gained many allies worldwide, including other fighters, scientists, celebrities and business men all willing to provide all their knowledge and abilities to help her. Mutants like her brother or not, drawing her attention and vengeance on their organisation in such a way as killing her brother could spell disaster for the Purifiers worldwide. They'd be forever hunted from every angle of society, mutant and human.

However, this Jim was still a mutant and they all had to be annihilated. That much was clear. So he'd just have to risk it and hope that they could cover their tracks well enough to not be discovered. That was all he could do.

"Sir. The sun is setting. We are ready to move out." A man stated at his door, drawing the captain from his musing.

"Very well." The captain nodded, waving the fighter away. "I will be out in a moment." As the fighter left, he turned back to his computer and finished up a report for their leader, William Stryker, including the potential threat of Kim Possible. He was just about to hit send when he caught a picture of the Possible family in the corner of his eye. There was nothing truly special about it, it was just a family photo. However, it was a clear reminder of what his background check had discovered. Jim was the third child, the last to be born. But, he was only beaten by his brother by maybe three minutes. An identical twin that had the exact same genetic makeup. Translation, if one was a mutant, the other was guaranteed to be one too. "Better clip a note to Stryker." He muttered as his fingers danced across the keyboard again. Satisfied with the warning, he sent the message off and took off out of the room. Before this night was over, the world would be free of a number of mutants.

...

"Dinner is served." Susan said proudly as she place the last of the meal on the table. Trixie and Spud had left not long ago, but the rest of them were present and quite keen to eat.

Staring down at all the food, Jim had to gulp repeatedly to stop himself from drooling. The food would have looked delicious and tempting to him at any time, but in his starved state, the mere sight of it made him want to go crazy. Even the vegetables, which he'd usually try to avoid, gave him a near overpowering urge to plant his face in them and swallow it all whole.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Jake asked, offering the brunette an encouraging grin. "Mom makes the best food and we don't bother with any of that saying grace stuff. Dig in."

Jim could barely control himself at that and in no time at all, he'd filled his plate with large chunks of everything, quickly filling his mouth with mash potatoes and anything else he could find that didn't require much chewing. A nagging part of him told him time and again that he was acting like a pig, but with his belly so empty and urging him to devour more, he found it easy to ignore.

"Well, someone's got a healthy appetite." Mr Long chuckled as he helped himself to some meatloaf. Jake just smirked around his own mouthful while Haley looked away, finding his eating method a little disgusting. Normally she'd nag anyone who ate like that, always one for manners and proper etiquette, but seeing as he was a growing boy with a recent shortage of food, she was willing to let it slide just this once. Still, that didn't mean that she could stomach watching him if she wanted to keep her own appetite.

Looking around and slowing down as his belly finally stopped being so demanding, Jim finally noticed the attention he was getting from everyone and blushed as he grabbed a napkin and wiped his face.

"Sorry." He muttered embarrassedly, kicking himself. All the while the voice he'd ignored was screaming 'I told you' over and over.

"It is nothing to apologise about." Susan said as warmly she could, smiling at him from across the table. "Anyone would eat like that in your situation. You should have seen how nuts I went for food after Haley and I accidentally found ourselves in a tyrannical fitness camp." She added with a light chuckle, her smile growing brighter as Jim relaxed.

"Oh yeah, when the kid makes a pig of himself, it's all fine, but when Foo dog does it, it's all 'Foo, what are you an animal?'!" Foo muttered good naturedly, getting a playful jab from Jake as Jim chuckled.

"So, sorry, but I got some information out of your minds earlier." Jim started hesitantly, not quite sure whether or not to bring anything up. He noticed that Jake tensed for a moment and the others showed signs of concern, curiosity or sighed in response, but when no one made a move or signal to stop him, he took a deep breath and moved on. "I know that everyone with power here can turn into dragons. And it's magic? You're not mutants, like me?"

"That is true my boy." Lao Shi nodded, having already prepared himself for this. It was inevitable after all, a fact that was set in stone when they brought him in. "Sun, my grandchildren and I are all dragons. Magical creatures that date back to ancient times and, unlike mutants, our powers vary very little. In most cases, the only difference between us is our level of power and talent."

"And dragons protect a magical community?" Jim asked, his curiosity peaked. "That's nearby?"

"The magical community is global, much like the mortal world." Sun answered, taking a moment so Lao Shi could eat. "Often it is found hidden within the mortal society, though we have places solely of our own, just as the humans do. And yes, we do protect the magical world and its inhabitants, both from the dark creatures that live in it and from the humans that try to hurt or exploit it. Dragons are also often called in as a mediator in cases of disputes or asked for assistance when something or someone goes missing."

"So are you really a mutant?" Haley asked, just as curious as Jim, earning a confused look from not only him, but everyone else in the room too. "I mean, is the telepathy really yours or did you get it from the Phoenix?"

"Oh, it's definitely mine." Jim responded with a nod, biting his lip a little nervously. "I know exactly when the Phoenix got inside me and I'd read my brother's mind before that. Even if it was on the same day."

"Well, since we've just hit the elephant in the room anyway," Jake started before turning a little more hesitant. "How did you get it inside you?"

"The Phoenix is interdimensional. It travels to alternate dimensions." Jim started as the moment he met Aang crossed his mind. "It was fighting a boy with a huge amount of power, the strongest of his world. He has dormant cosmic power too and when they crossed, it created a portal and brought them both here. My brother and I found him and when we did, a surge of fire came at us, but didn't hurt us or anything else. I felt something funny and we heard a bird scream. I later realised that I'd absorbed it or something. Of course, at that moment, I was in the arms of a mutant hating jock that I'd accidentally read the mind of and gotten caught."

"So it travels dimensions. An interesting development and an explanation as to why we haven't seen it in millennia." Lao Shi muttered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Sun however, was a little more worried about the sad look growing on Jim's face and immediately moved to his side. Placing her hand softly on his now clean and spiky hair, she closed her eyes and gently released her soothing energy directly into his body, calming him instantly.

"Thank you." He muttered as his facial features softened. "I thought you had to transform to do that." He added curiously.

"At full strength, yes, I do." She nodded as she moved back to her seat. "However, dragons can use their powers in human form too, at a weaker scale for most. We can also transform only small amounts of our bodies, such as our eyes or claws. You only needed a small dose, so I didn't bother with transforming."

"Oh, ok." Jim nodded as he cut a piece of meatloaf, this time eating with a great deal more manners. At that point everyone quieted down, seeming to silently agree to drop the subject for now. There'd be time for more talking later.

...

"Report." The captain said softly, but firmly as his two scouts approached him. They were well into the night by now and all of his men were hidden nearby, surrounding the building both on the ground and on the rooftops. Normally, he'd only send a team of five or six to deal with a problem like this, but with a group of mutants, a few of them potentially hiding their powers and one proven to be a dangerous telepath, he'd opted for every man he had.

"Other than the dog-like mutant, the dragon woman and the telepath, we still haven't seen any signs of what powers the group may have." One stated before the other continued.

"Most of them are reading books, have been doing so all day. One woman is washing dishes with a man we believe to be her husband and the dragon woman is meditating with the Possible boy upstairs."

"When they opened a window, we heard the Chinese boy mention something about the Phoenix. We think it's the fire bird that was reported flying over the city." The first one spoke again right as his partner finished.

Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the windows for any sign of his prey, only to scowl at his findings. The group that had been reading at the front of the store during the day had moved into a back room and not been seen since, believed to be staying in a room devoid of windows. Reports via his headset informed him that the married couple he was confident was Susan and Jonathan Long were sitting on a couch at the back in perfect view of the men on the roof, but the dragon woman and Jim, though they had been found, were in a position that, thanks to the structure of the buildings, no one could get a clear angle on. At the most, they'd shoot one of their arms and warn them to the danger. Even if only one responded violently, it would still put many of his good men in danger.

_So I'll use the others to my advantage then._ He decided before activating his microphone. "Listen up! Rooftop agents, fire tranquilizer darks at the couple, knock them out, don't kill them yet. Then watch for any attempts to escape and shoot to kill if they breach the building. Ground troops, we're going in. Capture the dog-like mutant, old man and his grandchildren, but don't kill. We're going to go for a hostage situation. Kill the other two on sight. After that, we'll deal with the rest with our preferred method, at the stake."

"Yes sir!" Came the reply of every soldier. Smirking cruelly, he adjusted his grip on his automatic and gave the signal. Within a second, half his forces were creeping up to both entrances to the building, the sound of breaking glass and a quickly cut off scream coming from upstairs right as two of his men aimed the butts of their rifles at the glass windows.

...

"You're doing very well Jim." Sun complimented as she watched him, quite proud of his accomplishments. She'd suggested that the he should learn meditation to help him calm his own mind and seeing how controlled his issues were with a calm mind, he'd quickly accepted. Admittedly, he had a bit of trouble when they first started, seeing that he was used to his mind buzzing from one thought to the next long before he'd started hearing other people's, but with a little gentle couching, it wasn't long before he was coming along just fine. Sun hadn't had to use her power on him in over an hour, despite the occasional, touchy comments that came in and out of their hearing. Now Sun felt it was safe to move on to the next step. "Now let's see if we can get your telepathy under better control."

"How do we do that?" Jim asked keenly, breaking his meditative state instantly. Actual control over his power was too exciting to stay calm and relaxed.

"You learned with Haley that you can drive others away by focusing on one mind, correct?" Sun asked, receiving a nod. "That is a good first step. We have also determined that emotions can trigger your ability, so staying calm keeps them at bay. However, to learn how to control it, you must first learn how to access it at will."

"You want me to use it deliberately now?" Jim asked, starting to turn a little nervous.

"Yes. Do what you feel will consciously make it awaken. Then use Haley's method to focus only on my mind. With practice, both in using your power and controlling your emotions, you will find that your telepathy will not only cease to be a curse, but a very useful gift."

"Ok, I'll-" Jim started, only to be cut off as a loud smash that could only be glass shattering hit their ears, followed immediately by a scream that was cut off halfway through. "What was that?" He cried. Getting up, the two of them ran towards the source of the noise just as more shattering glass and cries came from downstairs. Finding themselves in the kitchen, they gasped as they found both Susan and Jonathan lying on the floor, out cold with darts in their backs.

"Sedatives." Sun said darkly as she kneeled down and pulled the darts out before jumping back to her feet and pushing Jim towards the door. "We're under attack, stay out of sight of the windows."

"Who would attack us here?" Jim asked fearfully, biting his lip as he felt his telepathy tweak and slipping into the calming methods Sun had been teaching him before the thoughts could bombard his mind. It worked for the most part, but it didn't stop him from feeling the overwhelming source of hate.

...

"What was that?" Jake cried, rushing to the front of the store only to jump back with a scream as three men aimed their guns and fired his way. Ducking low to the ground, with Foo and Haley screaming, Lao Shi immediately transformed and flew down low. Before the first few men even realised what was happening, his tail was wrapped securely around their legs and he'd tossed them right into their allies.

"Kill the mutant!" The captain roared, aiming right for Lao Shi's head as his men got back to their feet. However, Loa Shi's speed and manoeuvring made it impossible to lock onto him, the fired bullets hitting nothing but the walls. Whipping around the entire room, Lao Shi spat small fireballs at each man, burning their hands and causing them to drop their weapons with ear wrenching screams. "All units move in!" The captain ordered as he fired again, the only one not to lose his gun.

"Let's help him out Haley." Jake called, transforming in a flash of red flames. Nodding, Haley jumped up and was consumed in a burst of pink fire, but before either of them could go anywhere, the back door burst open and three men shot tranquilizer darts. Haley, already being small and airborne, had no difficulty dodging her dart, but unfortunately Jake and Foo were both struck in the neck and were out cold a moment later.

"Sir, we've found multiple mutants with dragon forms!" One guy cried as every member of the new group aimed their weapons at Haley.

Furious at what they'd done, Haley weaved her way right at them and with a war cry worthy of a barbarian woman, she ploughed right into them. Her tail struck one in the face at the same time her clawed foot struck the shoulder of another before flipping back and releasing a long stream of fire breath.

"AARRRGGGHHH!" Their screams hurt Haley's ears as they were blown out the door and into the alleyway, rolling along the ground to try and put out the flames.

Things only got worse upstairs. Once the feeling of hate made it through Jim's mind, he found it completely impossible to shake it off. And it was at that moment that more and more windows shattered, heralding the arrival of another load of men, all of them wreaking with the same powerful emotion.

"Jim, stay calm! I'll take care of this." Sun said firmly, transforming and tossing a chair at two of the men, knocking them out as they crashed into a wall, only for another eight to come running their way in all directions. Growling, Sun took to the air and pushed Jim out of the line of enemy fire before swooping around the room and taking out another three men, aiming for their pressure points and knocking them unconscious. However, before she could reach the fourth, he raised his gun right at her. Panicked at the close range, she jerked herself to the side just as he pulled the trigger.

BANG

"ARGH!" But not fast enough. Though she escaped a mortal wound, the bullet went right through her wing, leaving her flying wonky for a few seconds before crashing into a table.

"No." Jim muttered, desperate and terrified as one of the men moved to aim his gun at Sun's head. He didn't even notice that two were aiming at him, he was already lost within his mind. Or rather, everyone else's.

He could feel the pain Lao Shi felt as a lucky shot struck his shoulder. He saw through Haley's eyes as guy came out of nowhere and slammed a taser between her wings, sending a crippling pain right through her system. And he felt the hate and malice of every one of these men, these...Purifiers. Hate that had the most disastrous of effects. Reviving all the malicious of the Phoenix.

"NO! He screamed, his unseeing eyes wide with pure, paralysing fear, actually managing to scare the men aiming to killing him. "Don't! I can't let you hurt Sun and the Longs! I have to save them. NO, STAY IN, STAY IN!"

"I don't know what you're on about kid..." One purifier stated, trying to hide his sudden anxiety. "But I promise my bullet will-ARGH!" Before he could even finish his sentence a wave of agony struck not only his head, but every conscious person's in the building. Everyone, Purifiers and conscious dragons alike, collapsed to the ground screaming as wave after wave washed over them, exposing them all too every thought and feeling Jim was feeling, meaning those of every single person in the building.

However, it didn't end there. Trying every meditative trick Sun had taught him, Jim tried to stop it, but the Phoenix made it to the surface of his mind and began to take over. Except, this time was different from the previous events. This time, the first noticeable change was an explosion of fire, but his eyes glowing the yellowish-orange colour of the flames. It wasn't until the Phoenix whipped his arms up and screamed the flames exploded from his being, decimating the build in a pillar of cosmic fire with a thunderous explosion. After a few moments, when all the debris had crashed and settled to the ground and people were running into the streets screaming in a desperate attempt to get away, the flames took on their usual form. But with one difference. For now, where the Phoenix' heart would be, was Jim. His eyes were glowing, his face was the perfect picture of malice and he was laughing manically as the Phoenix screeched in victory, but it was definitely him. And what was more, the fire bird's form seemed to be directed by his own body.

Staring around for a moment, the Phoenix was about to take off when it noticed a pink, scaled tale hidden under what used to be a brick wall and halted. Jim's face turned contemplative for a moment, unsure what to do with the dragon girl, before waving his hand and sending a fiery talon down towards her. However, just before it could reach her, Jim's facial expression turned fierce.

"No!" He exclaimed, his voice much stronger and demanding than it had ever been before. For a moment he and the Phoenix were completely still, oblivious to both the screaming civilians and the cops rushing in, demanding he put the fire away as he seemed to have a mental battle. It went on for a few minutes, all the while Jim's face growing more determined and more feral until he released a rage scream and shot straight up into the sky faster than a jet plane and took off through the sky, leaving only Haley and twenty badly injured Purifiers behind.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN:** Surprise! I finally updated this story again. I'm sorry for the ridiculously long wait. This story has finally returned to my rotation, so expect more updates soon. In fact, another two chapters have all been completed and are about as long as this one, so there's a guarantee for more.

Anyway, thank you everyone for your reviews and whatnot. I hope you enjoy the chapter. It's my favorite, so hopefully you all like it.

* * *

><p><strong>Mixing Faces and Breakout Cases<strong>

_This night has been nothing short of a disaster._ The Purifier captain's pained grunts and furious growls were the only sounds to accompany the shuffling and thumping of his movements as he entered his hideout, completely alone. Every one of his men was taken out in the explosion and would be taken to the isolation wing of the closest hospital. He was the only one conscious and capable enough of moving to force himself away from the scene before the emergency team arrived and even then, he barely made it. Personally, he was surprised all of his men were still alive

None of his men would be back on the streets now, even after they recovered. The Purifiers' noble work was deemed terrorism by the law and punishable by life in prison at the very least. The organisation would take another blow from the media too, thanks to the tattoos every Purifier wore. They'll make out that this explosion was their fault for irritating the destructive fire mutant. Which had turned out to be the telepath boy Jim Possible.

_There's nothing more I can do about it now._ Snarling hatefully, he forced himself in front of his computer and sent his report in to Mr Stryker. He was not going to be happy about this one at all.

His snarl intensifying as he forced himself to send the confirmation of his failure, he turned back to the picture of the Possible family. However, after a moment, the snarl turned into a cruel smirk. He may have failed to kill him, but now Jim's little secret would become worldwide news. After all, the media simply loved a good story. Who cares where they got it from or who it hurt?

...

"_This just in! The destructive mutant using the form of giant firebird has been identified as Jim Possible, the younger brother of world Famous Hero Kim Possible."_

"_Eye witnesses have placed the boy, previously assumed to have been killed in the firebird's initial attack at Middleton High in no less than three locations that the firebird has been seen attacking"_

"_No comments can be taken from the parents, Dr's Ann and James Possible at this time as both were hospitalised after the attack on the Xavier Institute. It has been assumed that they had gone there with the hopes of finding their missing child."_

"_Many witnesses, though admitting to being terrified of his powers, have admitted to questioning the boy's hostility as every sighting of him comes with Jim looking scared and panicked. Take his age into account and it is arguable that he is simply losing control of his new powers. However, whether the attacks are intentional or not, it has been made clear that Jim Possible is too great of a threat to leave walking free."_

"_A number of victims at the last attack site, an old electronics store, have been identified as Purifiers, a cult that sets out to rid the world of mutants and what is believed to be a mutant taking on the form of a small dragon. It is unclear if the mutant or the Purifiers may have set off the latest attack. All of them are currently still being treated at the explosion site, many of them deemed too unstable to transport at this time."_

"_Agents of every law enforcement agency are working around the clock to find this young, renegade mutant. We would like to ask the public to remain calm. If you see him, do not approach him under any circumstances and alert the authorities immediately."_

It didn't matter what channel she flipped to. Even all the way on the opposite side of the world, all that was on was the series mutant attacks depicting one very important young man as a terrorist. Screaming in rage, she didn't even bother hitting the off switch. She just threw the remote right through the TV screen.

Kim couldn't believe it. There was no way her brother was the monster nine out of ten reporters were making him out to be. NO WAY!

Sure, she knew her brothers were mischievous pains in the butt more often than not, but neither of them would ever actually intentionally hurt anyone. Yes, if Jim did turn out to be a mutant like her, which seemed to be the case, he'd probably go a little overboard with his power, but this? No, he had too good a heart, even if he did try to hide it behind being her little demon. He kill himself with the grief and guilt of doing it. There had to be a lot more to this story.

The question was what? She honestly had no idea what it could really be, the last time she'd talked to her family she was the only mutant under the Possible roof and everything was as normal as it ever got back home. And now, with her parents hospitalised in who knew which hospital and Tim...where the hell was he?...she had no way of finding out anything.

"There's only one thing for it." She decided, raising her Kimmunicator. She'd need Wade's help for this one. She was going to track down her brother and every piece of information that she could find on the firebird problem. Then she was going to clear his name. That was all there was to it.

...

Tim had never felt so relieved to be off a bus in his life. It took multiple rides to get there from Bayville, despite the close proximity, and with every one more and more people stared their way, many of them muttering about runaways and whether they should take us to the nearest police station. Add in the fact that Tim never was the best at sitting still and how earnest he was to reach his brother, it made his impatience nearly unbearable both to him and his friends.

"Come on, let's go!" He cried, rushing ahead. After all, one woman had been watching them the whole time and looked ready to swoop on them. There was a lot of reasons to get into the city already.

"Hang on Tim, we gotta figure out where we're going first." Aang called after him, earning an irritated groan as he and Jamie fiddled with a map. "Unless you want to simply run in the opposite direction or something! This city is huge." He added patiently in response.

"Fine." He groaned moodily, conceding defeat and moving back beside them. "But two things. One, if we don't move somewhere now, we're going to have to explain why we look like runaways to the woman approaching us." He started, subtly nodding his head back and causing the others' eyes to sneakily follow to the an overweight, set faced woman looking right at them. "And two, you're holding the map upside down."

"Oops. My bad, sorry." Jamie rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as Tim rolled his eyes. Aang simply grinned amusedly and flipped it around as they started to walk into a crowd. Between the mass of people and the darkened sky, it was easy to lose the woman. The only problem was that it was near impossible to read the map without standing under the streetlights.

"Why are so many people out right now anyway?" Aang asked, quickly getting annoyed with the frequent shoving and elbows striking him. "It's past even the point of late dinners! Why aren't more of these people at home by now?"

"Because this is a city that never sleeps." Jamie answered excitedly, not even bothering to try and read the map. The lights and bustle above and around him was so much more interesting to him. It was so bright and flashy that even the dark sky couldn't be seen! "There's too much to do to stay home. Besides, it's not that late, there's plenty of bars and clubs open right now."

"The people here never sleep?" Aang gaped, staring around like he was surrounded by crazy people.

"No, they sleep. The city doesn't." Tim shook his head, snatching the map. Fed up with straining his eyes and getting knocked out from under the streetlights a few too many times, he moved out into the gutter between two cars. "The people sleep at random times, some during the day and some during the night, depending on their jobs, but there's so many of them that it's always busy."

"Oh, ok. Wait, Tim, what are you doing?" Aang asked, raising an eyebrow as a little worry grew across his face, Jamie finally looking down again to watch curiously.

Tim however, didn't respond, frowning hard at the car before him. He wondered if he could do it. Turning the lights on should be simple enough and it wasn't like he had to get the whole car up and running to do it. The owner would never know.

The problem was that it had barely even been twenty four hours since he discovered his ability and he definitely hadn't been practicing it. Yeah, he'd gotten Cerebro to give him information and the hangar doors to open and close, but the first one was while trying to do something else and all doors do is open and close. If he tried to turn on the car lights, it may not work at all or it could start the vehicle up and have it drive right into them. Maybe he should just...

_Hope that the crowd will fizzle out enough for us to stand under a streetlight for a few minutes?_ He thought, scowling at the crowd. _Yeah, I don't see that happening anytime soon._ His mind made up, he turned back to the car and focused as hard as he could on the front light, mentally demanding that they light up.

"Hey!" Jamie cried, his curious look growing to one of excitement. "Are you trying to- AHH, high beams!" His excitement quickly turned too pained as he threw up his arms protectively in front of his face, Aang and Tim doing the same as their eyes were hit with more light than they could handle.

"Sorry." Tim grunted, turning his back to the car. Clearly, he'd overshot it. What made it worse was that naturally, everyone in the area had notice the far too bright light and were filling the air with groans and angered shouts. Grabbing the others, he turned them too, just enough to be able to see without blocking all the light from the map and ran his eyes over it. He had to work fast, it was only a very short matter of time before people figured out he'd done it or accuse them of trying to steal the car. Not nearly enough to figure out the control over his ability needed to leave the lights on at their normal setting.

"Ok, here's the park where there was a report of what some guy thought was a flare this morning and here's the street where that fight broke out." He said quickly, pointing out each place to a lost Jamie and a still part blind Aang. "Now we're here, so we need to go... that way!" He stated, pointing across the street and down the road.

"Ok, then let's-"

"AAAHHHH! It's Jim Possible!" Aang's sentence was forever left unsaid as a woman screamed, drawing the attention of everyone in the area.

"What, where?" Tim cried, whipping his wide eyed face back and forth throughout the area. However, he couldn't see past the panicking crowed, all running and stumbling away. They weren't even of any help as for some reason, they were all staring...

"Tim, I don't think it's actually Jim that they found. And they _really _don't look ok at the thought of finding him." Aang muttered lowly, nervously shifting away from the crowd as three men made their way right for them, all of them holding a piece of wood or a briefcase threateningly.

"Huh?" Tim stuttered, biting his lip worriedly as they approached, frowning as he thought the whole thing through. "They think I'm Jim. But...how would they know that name and why are they..."

"Get him! Before he blows up another building!" The guy with the briefcase shouted fiercely, causing Tim to scream as he threw the leather rectangle right at Tim's head. His mind not processing his fear and disbelief of the situation, he couldn't react in time and would have been struck hard...

However, Aang was fully aware and thinking fine and with a leap, he kicked it right back the way it came from, landing at its startled owner's feet.

"The next projectile will hit the thrower." He stated coldly, placing himself squarely between Tim and the still quickly approaching men. However, if they paid even the slightest bit of attention, it was only enough to stop them from throwing, nothing more.

"Get out of the way kid or we'll take you down for protecting that mutant terrorist!" One man spat, swinging down with his chunk of wood only for Aang dodge it and back flip away from the third man as he reached out to grab Aang's arm.

"These guys aren't gonna quit." Aang grunted, dodging the swinging briefcase by diving between the owner's legs and striking hard at the back of his knees, resulting in a loud cry and thump as he fell onto the hood of the car. Sliding down the front of it, he cried out again as he got a good and close look at the high beams.

"Then it might be best to run." Jamie replied, blocking the wood guy's next assault with a tent pole only to falter under the weight and hit his back on parked a SUV, forcing him to close his eyes or get blinded by the lights again. " Argh! We've got enough people after us as it is." He grunted, swinging the pole and lucking out with a blow to the guy's hand, causing him to scream in pain and drop the wood. "And seriously Tim, would you turn off the lights? This hurts!"

"Forget the lights, just run!" Tim exclaimed, grabbing the duffle bags they'd left on the ground. Swinging them into the closest two thugs along the way, he nudged Jamie back onto the footpath with his elbow just as Aang added some subtle Airbending to his back-palm and sent the third rolling away with a groan. Grabbing one of the duffle bags as they reach him, he grabbed hold of them and jumped, releasing bursts of wind from his feet.

"WHOA!" Tim and Jamie's screamed as they flew right over the still busy road, eliciting a number of cries and gasps from everyone watching. Before either passenger had a chance to alter their screams from surprised to scared, Aang had already hit the ground again and was running as fast as the wind. He could take it too far though. With the extra weight, he barely got around the far corner before he had to bring it to a halt. Letting them go, it took pretty much all he had just to keep walking.

"Well, that was the first time I did that! I need to work out more." He gasped as the others readjusted themselves to the rapid changes in speed.

He didn't get long though. The others didn't even give into the urge to comment over it before grabbing Aang's arms, this time dragging him at their speed as they rushed through the masses, Tim taking care to keep his head down and in the shadows the whole time.

"The way those guys talked...It sounded like there was another attack." Jamie gasped as quietly as he could. It was hard not to be overheard in such a crowded area, even if the pedestrian traffic there was much lighter than that around the bus station. "And since when does the world know who's the Phoenix? Last I checked, everyone was just calling it the firebird."

"Something big must have happened while we were catching rides." Tim responded worriedly, clenching his teeth as a very troublesome realisation struck home. "Which means, on top of everything else, Jim might already be gone. The Phoenix always takes off."

"If that's true...then we need to...find some...news reports or whatever you call them." Aang stated between puffs. "We'll need to know which way it went."

"Or we can just ask the cops!" Jamie cried, pulling them to a complete stop and panickedly pushing them against a wall. Considering it was a wall jutting out from a main entrance to the building, it's needless to say that they were all uncomfortably crushed together as they caught their breath and peeked around. "Or the army. Take your pick." He added, his pitch going high and all of their faces paling at the sight before them.

Sure enough, right in front of them was a military van. The heavily reinforced kind they used to ensure that prisoners would not escape through even the most dangerous of areas or captives. They were used a lot lately for transporting criminal mutants.

There were about ten soldiers in the area, walking around picking through what looked like a building blown to rubble. Two were standing guard over the one remaining ambulance in the area, their guns armed and ready.

"I think we found the last attack." Tim squeaked, trying and failing to sound calm and collect. It was kinda hard when you probably already had your name on the cops' missing person's list and the face of the so-called terrorist. Seeing as his parents weren't even aware that he was leaving Bayville, no doubt not waking to find his letter until they'd long left the town, either recognised identity could get him into a lot of trouble.

While Tim and Jamie were busy gawking at the sight, Aang closed his eyes and concentrated on his hearing. He couldn't tell you much about the soldiers, cops or anything they were carrying and he'd already seen the site. With the others watching out, it was the best chance he was going to get to eavesdrop and try to figure out the situation. After all, this had the Phoenix written all over it and any information that they could get on it could be helpful. Not that he was getting much, most of the muttering sounded like whining garble.

"How's the mutant coming along?" A soldier suddenly barked over it all, instantly grabbing Aang's attention. Opening his eyes, he pressed his side closer to Jamie's as he peeked around, quickly spotting the speaker. From the look of his posture, as hard to read as it was from a distance, he most likely running out of patience and not thrilled to be there at all. "We don't need it looking pretty, we only need it stable enough to transport. Personally, even that seems to be a bit much." He added, his voice dropping so much that Aang barely heard it. It was still clear enough to have him bristling though.

"That piece of scum." Tim growled, clenching his teeth furiously, all signs of fear in his voice temporarily forgotten. Jamie didn't look particularly happy either, so it was safe to say that they all heard it.

"Would you be patient!" A paramedic snapped, his angry voice coming loud and across the area, though he and his partner's eyes never left whatever was hidden from the teens by a pile of burnt bricks. "This one's in a dragon's physiology, not a human's! She's not even a mammal right now! It's going to take a bit of time to determine if she's alright and you breathing down our backs with your racist crap isn't helping!"

"I like him." Jamie muttered, smiling a little as he watched the paramedic. Tim however, found himself a little more intrigued about the mutant than the tong lashing. Going against better judgment, as per usual, he pulled himself out of the pressed pack the three had become and crept to the other side of the empty road.

"What are you doing?" Jamie hissed incredulously as a freaking Aang waved his hands in an erratic 'come back here' motion. However, Tim ignored them completely. Hiding behind an old mail box, he strained his eyes over the top of it and felt his jaw drop.

He couldn't see its head, but its body was no doubt a human child-sized reptilian one with a much too different body structure to be any of the big lizards. Plus, its scales were a pale pink. Who ever heard of a pink lizard?

"Wow. I wonder if she has all the powers of a dragon." He whispered, staring in awe as he examined her form. "The wings seem a bit too small, but they still might give her flight. I wonder, is she a shapeshifter? If she is, then why would she decide to turn into such a small dragon when she could turn into a building sized one? Maybe she's a beastly type instead and the wings and scales are permanently there, like Beast or Nightcrawler? I wonder if she can breathe-"

"Hey! You, over there! Come out with your hands where I can see them!" His blood ran cold as a cop flashed a light right on him. It took a few seconds for him to stop staring like a deer caught in the headlights and duck out of the light. A few seconds too long.

"It's HIM. JIM POSSIBLE!" The cop shouted panickedly, fumbling to get his gun out of its holster as every other cop and soldier whipped their attention his way, guns already pointing. "Behind the MAILBOX!"

"Get that one secured in the van NOW!" The Captain snapped, two of his men instantly pushing the paramedics away and grabbing the dragon as the rest of them charged down the street. "Don't let either of them get away."

"Oh, this is bad." Jamie cried, watching fearfully.

"But nothing we can't handle." Aang responded quickly, startling Jamie into shouting out as he stomped and thrust his arms, sending a very large ripple through the earth and right at the military, sending them all stumbling down. "We need to distract and confuse them without getting caught. Got any ideas?"

"Actually, yes!" Jamie cried, his eyes lighting up as he took off and ruffled through his backpack, quickly pulling out a black hoodie. Throwing it on and ensuring that the hood and the darkness covered his face completely, He gave Aang a grin and thrust one of the duffle bags back into his hands, taking the other bags himself, and grabbed the confused boy. "Come on!"

Their newest member's voice reaching his ears just as the first bullet hit the top of the mailbox, Tim looked over just in time to see the excitable mutant running straight toward him, dragging the scared Avatar behind him.

"There, there's two more of th...what the?" A cop cried, watching on stunned, not believing what he was seeing. With every step taken by the new two, three more kids appeared and they were running in every direction. Within seconds, there were over twenty running around, many of which were aiming right for the law enforcers.

"It's a whole horde of mutants! Fire!" The captain ordered, already shooting.

"Are you insane! They're just kids, stop it!" A cop shouted, shoving the captain down right before he fired a death shot.

"Who do you think you are cop-"

"Who do you think you are?" The cop interrupted venomously as his fellow policemen struggled to get the soldiers to let go of their triggers. "This isn't war and they're kids! Even if they're mutants and in the same place as Jim, that doesn't give you the right to kill them!"

"They're collaborating with the national threat!" The captain shouted back furiously. "And **I** am the military captain, you're just a cop. I make the call, not you."

"Then _I'll_ ensure that you get charged and dishonourably discharged and jailed for life for killing innocent kids on an assumption and prejudice." The cop shouted right back.

"What do you know, there are some genuinely good guys on the force." Jamie grinned as they reached Tim, offering him a hand up. "Now how about you guys add to this chaos with a few more tremors and maybe a car alarm?"

"On it." Aang nodded, quickly positioning himself before making the ground quake enough to send everyone to the ground again. This time, however, he added a few extra shock waves, keeping them down and setting off the sirens on every emergency vehicle they had, resulting in more than half of them writhing on the ground holding their ears and screaming. "Ok, let's move it!"

"But what about the dragon?" Tim cried, hesitating as Jamie tried to pull him along. "We can't just leave her with them!"

"And right now, we have no way of getting close without getting killed!" Aang shot back, grabbing Tim's other arm and dragging him away. "That won't help her either."

"Yeah, but-"

"Don't worry, I'll try to leave a clone nearby." Jamie interrupted, getting around a corner unnoticed as said clones had the recovering soldiers running randomly all around the place. "As long as I'm in range and they're not blasted, they stick around."

"Great, then we can come back later." Aang agreed, turning into an alley only to find it was a dead end. "Uh-oh."

"No uh-oh, look!" Jamie shook his head, pointing excitedly down at a manhole. "They'll never think to look down there!"

"But that'll be disgusting. It's a sewer!" Tim said, scrunching up his face distastefully. "I really don't feel comfortable in a place like that unless I have a gas mask."

"We don't exactly have time to be picky." Aang retorted as Jamie created another two clones to aid him in removing the lid. Cheering as it moved aside, he quickly jumped down, followed by Aang. Tim spared one more worried look back the way they'd come as the shouts, arguments and the occasional bullet grew closer before growing angry at himself and jumping down, careful to seal his mouth and cover his face so as to block the resulting, disgusting splash while the clones moved the manhole cover back in place and either disappeared or ran off to join the other clones with the distraction, whichever Jamie made happen. Personally, Tim hoped the latter. It would help a lot more getting their pursuers off their tails.

"Ok, that stinks." Aang groaned, sounding like he was going to be sick. Turning back to face him, Tim found the Air Nomad green in the face, with a hand clasped firmly over his mouth.

"Block your nose and breathe through your mouth." Was his response, giving Aang an 'I told you so' look as he started randomly walking around. "So what do we do now? These sewers are a freaking maze and we can't stay here for long."

"I got it." Jamie grinned, grabbing a flashlight from his backpack and punching his hand, instantly creating four clones. "Ok boys, lets spread out." He called, playfully mocking a drill sergeant and getting cheeky solutes from his clones in return before they scattered. He waited about ten seconds before creating another four clones and sent them after the first group.

"Um...how does that help?" Tim asked, frowning curiously as he watched them go. "We just wait until they come back with a path to safety or something?"

"No, the first group find one, I'll know it instantly." Jamie replied, raising his head proudly. "The second group are just there so I remember the way better. My ability lets me know everything my clones know, like a psychic connection."

"So that's why you said you'd leave a clone behind like it would fix everything." Tim said, impressed and starting to absorb some of Jamie's excitement. "You're amazing Multiple."

"Really? You think I'm amazing?" Jamie asked, his face lighting up like a kid's in a candy store.

"Yeah, you're like the ultimate spy." Tim nodded as he coaxed Jamie to lead the way, not really wanting to stay in a place where the sewage water could rise at any time. "Even if you get found out, you can make those clones fade away at any time, right? They'd never know you're there and you'd always have an alibi. I'm curious though, wouldn't having a lot of clones out at once cause a mental overload?"

"Nope." Jamie grinned as they turned a corner. "According to the Professor, all the memory is gathered into my subconscious and is either slowly assimilated in on its own, whatever that means, or I call it up on command. The more there is for my subconscious to go through, the longer it takes to get it all, but anything my mind deems important is brought into my mind immediately."

"Your ability's more complex than I thought." Tim commented, mulling it over. Imagine how fast you could learn things that way or how many scenarios you could juggle. If all the memories went to the clones the same way, it would not only cancel out the need and risk of radio communication, but you could respond to everything faster. Add to the fact that he could duplicate supplies along with his body and the guy's gift was golden. Imagine how easy it would be to shield an entire area with the shield projector he was working on if he handed it over to Jamie. And think of all the time and supplies he'd save from not having to mass produce them himself.

"So how are we going for a safe exit?" Aang moaned, still looking good and green. The sewers definitely didn't suit him. Even the one he'd climbed through when he'd tried to save King Boomy when Omashu was taken over were better than this!

"Yeah, the lead clone we're following already found two manholes this way, but we're going to try for another one if we can. They both led to the road and a very busy footpath near a restaurant." Jamie answered, getting a loud, whiney groan from Aang in return.

"So then what about the surface?" Tim asked before stumbling over a pile of what look like small bones, probably from a rat. "AAH!"

Fortunately for him, Aang and Jamie were quick to respond, catching an arm each. Otherwise, he'd be in the next shower he came across four hours and have the world's most disgusting taste in his mouth for a week. Just the thought of falling face first in the sewage water had his stomach lurching, almost to the point of actually throwing up. "Thanks guys."

"No problem, what are friends for?" Jamie grinned, Aang nodding slowly beside him before taking off again. "Most of the clones have faded away on the surface now and the few remaining are being ignored. They figured out the trick and guessed that the real me is long gone." He shrugged.

Still, Tim wasn't too thrilled with the answer. It didn't tell him what he really wanted to know. "What about the dragon mutant?" He pressed. He really hoped that Jamie hadn't lost the clone watching her.

"The paramedics forced their way into the prison van and are patching up wounds. Oh, wait, they're pulling out now because she's waking up and freaking out." He answered, visibly flinching by the end of it. "Ouch, that had to hurt. She just jumped and hit the suddenly closed door."

"Then we need to move fast." Tim cried, shoving a startled Jamie along, to the point where he almost needed saving. "We can't let them take her away! Besides, she may have information about Jim."

"The question is how do we save her?" Aang mumbled behind him, finally starting to calm down and regain his normal complexion. "Even when they thought you were Jim, they kept her guarded and those metal thingies of theirs looked deadly. How do we get in and save her without risking our lives or theirs?"

"With a distraction." Tim answered, pulling himself and Jamie to a stop so suddenly that Aang walked right into him. Shrugging off the grunts, he shrugged his back pack off his shoulders and motioned for Jamie to give him some light as he shuffled through it and smirked as he pulled out his magnetic laser. "Multiple, this will give you all the power you need to strip them of their toys. Combined that with a few elemental assaults from seemingly nowhere, it should be easy to lure them far enough away for me to break the dragon out. Though it'll work best if there's a manhole nearby..." He added suggestively, turning to Jamie. The young duplicator's eyes almost shined as he registered the hinted question.

"I know exactly where to go. Follow me." And he was off so fast that it was amazing that he didn't slip and fall.

...

The van was already on the move by the time they made it to the opening Jamie had in mind, but that was fine. It was on the way to their manhole and with Aang's Airbending, it was easy to get him and Jamie into position.

Three small alleys along the road each held a Multiple in possession of a magnetic laser while the originals were hiding behind the brick wall of a roof next to Aang, watching over the whole scene. Meanwhile, Tim was hidden within the shadows, with the clone that had led Jamie there, near the manhole at the opening of another, otherwise deserted alley left open just enough for him to move when his part came to play. By the time the van made it to their street, they were all set to go.

"Here it comes." The clone muttered, setting Tim into action. Peeking around the corner, he concentrated as hard as he could on the lights heading down the street. He'd never tried turning anything off anymore, but it was the best way to go. Aang could stop the van if he had to, but that would lose them the advantage of surprise.

"Come on...come on..." He muttered, glaring hard as he willed the van to shut down, only to growl in frustration as it continued on its way. It wasn't working; his power was too new to him. Why the heck could that stupid machine just stop-

BOOM, SCRREEE, BOOM!

"AAHHH! GET OUT, GET OUT" Tim paled considerably at the sight before him. The van had finally come to a stop. Unfortunately, it did it by ejecting the wheels and dropping the engine. The result: the van hit the ground, its momentum moving it along in a shower of sparks until it hit a traffic light. That was, ironically flashing the red light.

"Oh, that could have worked out better." Tim groaned, sinking further back into the shadows. The van had come to a halt past his alley and the soldiers were getting out and surrounding the whole thing. He couldn't risk being seen, especially now.

"Secure the mutant! Make sure nothing gets to her." The captain barked, gun at the ready as he and half his team started scouting the area. "If she gets away before we can get what we need from her, all of you will be wishing you were never placed under my command. And find the one responsible for THIS!" He added, shouting furiously as he stomped through the area.

"Now?" Jamie asked softly, but keenly as he turned to Aang. The young monk simply nodded in response, tensing his body. It didn't even take a second for the message to cross to the clones. Before the soldiers could make it even another three steps, every armed Multiple aimed and fired their laser.

"Hey, what the-?" Shocked cries filled the air as every gun, bullet and belt buckles was ripped from the soldiers' bodies and flew quickly away, not stopping until they hit the satellite dish of the magnet rays and dropped to the ground.

"AAHH! Who the hell dares to- AAHH!" The captain roared as he watched his weapons fly high into the air, however, he had no time to worry about them as a fierce gale surged right from the way the weapons flew to, instantly sending him and another of his men flying off into and through a window on the opposite side of the street.

Aang's reaction was instant. Leaping into the air, he created an air scooter to sit on and remain airborne and lashed out with air slash after air slash, quickly sending gasping and shouting soldiers in all directions. That is, except behind the van.

"MUTANT ATTACK!" Aang wasn't sure who had shouted it. There were even a few scared civilians running and screaming out of their homes now, drawn by the excitement and the soldiers were quick to recover. With the exception of the first strike against the captain, none of Aang's attack were meant to really hurt, just daze and distract and these were well trained soldiers. More often than not, they forced themselves to roll or flip as they returned to the ground, resulting in painless landings and returning them almost instantly to their feet. Still, it was enough to keep their attention and that was all he needed.

Taking a few deep breaths, Tim held himself perfectly still, but ready to move at a second's notice. Aang was doing his job well, none of the soldiers had time to think, only react, but he still had to time it perfectly right. Some did still frequently look all around the area as the twisted and spun in the air after all, and with so many street lights...

_Well, why not? I already wrecked the car._ He thought with a shrug, turning all his focus to the lights lining the street. It didn't take his trigger happy power and frustrated mind to kick in, within seconds his desire to shut off the power did the opposite and caused a power surge so great that it shattered the light bulbs.

"AAHHH!" Soldiers and the stupider civilians running into the street alike screamed as glass flew down everywhere, running and diving desperately from their range.

_Now!_ The extra distraction creating the perfect moment, even if Aang had to take more care into where he unleashed gales now, Tim dashed right through the dark to the back of the van and slapped a round device over the lock. Hitting the single button on it, he smiled triumphantly as it whizzed to life, heralding the tell-tale click of an opening bolt, and ripped the door open before hopping right in to find the dragon glaring right at him.

"Hey, who are..." She started, only to trail off as he took a few steps closer. Even through the dark, he could see her eyes darking to his face and gaping, almost as if she recognised him. When she spoke again, it was with a lot less anger and a great deal more worry and disbelief. "Jim? You're still here? What happened to my family, from what I've overheard, I was the only person found at my Grampa's shop that wasn't a member of some Purifier organisation!"

"Sorry, you got the wrong twin." Tim said quickly, stepping right up to get a closer look at her. He couldn't tell you much, but from the way she was standing, he was sure that she could run. Her injuries weren't too bad, probably due to tough, armour-like scales. Man, he really wanted to study her mutation. _There will be time for that later._ He snapped, mentally scolding himself for getting distracted. He only had seconds before the military figured out the door was open, he had to get her out of there now.

Fortunately, the only thing that was stopping him from doing just that was a thick chain shackling her to the wall. Nothing his bag of inventions couldn't handle.

"What do you mean wrong twin? He mentioned having a brother, not a twin." The dragon demanded, staring at him like he was distrustfully. "You're not Jim? Then who are you and why are you here?"

"My name's Tim and I'm looking for him. That's all we have time to say right now." Tim responded, pulling an altered version of Kim's laser lipstick out of his bag. Altered, as to say made it look like a pen instead of lipstick and doubling the intensity. "We have to get out of here. Please trust me, I'm only trying to help you."

The dragon only wasted a few scream filled seconds staring hard at him before she nodded, letting her body relax. Grinning in response, Tim quickly moved right alongside her and crouched down, turning on his laser pen and aiming it very carefully. Despite the unusual thickness of the metal, it only took a few seconds to blast right through the shackle and snap it open.

The second she was free, Tim grabbed her arm and dragged her straight out the door and back onto the street. Unfortunately, the darkness and glass shards had Aang hesitating so much that the soldiers had plenty of time to recover and the lights of nervous or excited spectators in the surrounding buildings made it more than easy enough to make out their forms.

"Stop them!" The captain shouted, pointing furiously at the fleeing duo. Four soldiers were after them in an instant.

"Oh, no you don't." Jamie grinned, taking a few steps back. Feeling that he had enough running space, he created another four clones and sent the running into a jump right over the edge. "Avatar!"

It didn't take a second for Aang to determine what the four simultaneous calls wanted. He instantly brought his hands to his mouth and blowed, sending the strongest gale he'd used all throughout the fight and propelled and guided the clones right to their destination before turning his attention back to the rest of the fight.

"WOOHOO!"

"AARRGGHHH!" The two sets of four calls echoed throughout the area as the clones came straight down on the four soldiers just before they reached Tim and the dragon, crashing them into the ground before fading right out of sight.

"How many of you are there?" The dragon asked, surprised and curious as Tim led her back into the darkness of the alley, only to stop when she found someone already in it.

"That depends entirely on me." The Multiple grinned, standing proudly with his hands on his hips beside the manhole cover. "Now please, step this way to avoid unwanted military jerks." He added, taking on the speech pattern of a tour guide.

The dragon just gave both boys an unsure look before climbing down the hole, letting out a disgusted 'eewww' as she reached the bottom. Sharing her opinion, he climbed in down after her, only waiting long enough to help Multiple with the cover.

"What about him?" The dragon asked, frowning worriedly as Tim joined her at the bottom and grabbed the bags he'd left hanging by their straps on the ladder before. "He'll get caught if he stays there!"

"Don't worry, he'll fade away." Tim replied, grinning as she stared at him with open confusion. "Multiple is a mutant with the ability to duplicate himself. When they're done, they disappear. It usually looks like they're fading away."

"Oh, duplication. So that's what he meant 'depends entirely on me'." The dragon mused.

"Hi." Only to stop and scream as another smiling Multiple with a flashlight whipped around the corner in front of her. It took all she had to stop herself from breathing fire on him.

"Don't do that!" She cried indignantly as Tim chuckled behind her, earning a bat to the head with her tail. "So are you the real...Multiple?" She asked moodily, ignoring the 'ow' coming from behind her completely.

"Nope, I'm a clone. The real me's up with the Avatar. I'm just here to guide you through to the nearest safe exit." Multiple replied merrily before spinning on his heel and heading back the way he came. "Now if you would be so kind as to follow me, we should be able to leave this oh so wonderfully horrid exhibit of all things disgusting in no time at all."

With that, the group headed off in silence, excluding the slopping sound of sewage.

...

"They're in." Jamie said softly as Aang dropped beside him, both ducking low as the soldiers shouted and scoured the area. With the wind assault having stopped, they had a lot of time to get their bearings and were quickly moving towards their taken equipment. "So do you think we should stick around a bit longer or get out of here too?"

"Keep them chasing after those clones down there and that should do it." Aang replied, grabbing hold of the mutant. He waited just long enough for Jamie to nod sending the air around them spinning and taking off, making sure to press Jamie's face to his shoulder as he did. After all, they'd just lead the soldiers to their rendezvous point if he let out his exhilarated shout.

...

"Go-ARRRHH!" The captain found himself reduced to wordless screams as he his men continued to apprehend the assaulting teens only for them to disappear before they could so much as remove the hoods and see their faces. They literally just slipped through his men's hands like ghosts, fading away. It was like they were mere projections or something.

"Sir...that was the last of them." One soldier reported hesitantly, not sure of his superior's reaction and hating the fact that he had to voice the results of this skirmish. "We still have no idea where the wind mutant even was either. And... on top of that..."

"Spit it out!" The captain hissed, causing his entire team to wince. Oh, he wasn't going to like this.

"The dragon mutant we were bringing in for questioning succeeded in escaping."

They'd lost the mutant. One that had been with Jim Possible, helping him, probably knowing exactly what he was planning, where he'd go. Their only lead.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" People around could quite fairly accuse him of being a mutant himself at that point. The scream was loud enough to be heard a mile away. Most though simply wondered how a guy with amazing anger management issues could possibly be considered worthy of rising up in the military. As far as they were concerned, people like that shouldn't even be allowed to hold a gun.

...

Fiddling with his fingers, Tim couldn't stop watching the dragon. He had so many questions, both about his brother and about her. He was itching to ask, but wasn't sure if it was the best idea. She looked possibly even more green than Aang had down there before, probably to the amazing reptilian sense of smell that he was sure came with her form. Where he smelled one horrid stench, she could probably tell you about each and every smell it was made up of and just how strong and fowl it was. It was probably best that she didn't talk. She'd probably just puke if she tried.

_Still, there is one question I probably should ask now._ He frowned, biting his lip. It was a pretty important question; it would define what they had to do once they left the sewers. The sooner they knew the answer the better. _Oh, screw it. If she blows chunks on me, well, I'm already gonna be burning my shoes after this trip. It hardly compares._

"Hey, I need to ask a question." He said slowly, monitoring her reaction as she turned to face him. So far so good, she didn't look like she was going to puke yet. "It's about your mutation. Are you able to change back into a normal human, or is your ability one the permanent beast types?"

"Beast type mutation?" She asked, throwing Tim completely off guard as she stared at him with open confusion. However, realisation dawned on her quickly enough as she looked herself over and the next time their faces met, she'd grown a sheepish smile. "Oh, right, most would think I was...yeah, I'm normally completely human looking."

"Do the soldiers or the cops know that?" Tim asked, holding back his suspicious frown as she shook her head. She was hiding something, he was sure of it, but he forced himself to shrug it off for now. After all, they'd just met. She had plenty of right to have secrets. So instead, he let his relief at her answers shine through and smiled. "Then would mind changing back? It'll be a lot easier to hide in the crowd that way. My face draws too much attention as it is. It'll probably lessen the smells you've got to deal with down here anyway."

"Well, that's all true." She said hesitantly, biting her lip as she stared between the boys indecisively. It was, after all, a risk to let people see your true form. Blending in becomes much harder with more people knowing your secret.

However, she seemed to decide it was worth the risk a few moments later, for with conceding sigh, she stepped a little away from the boys and shocked them as pink flames encased her body. Flashing away as quickly as they appeared a second later, they revealed a young, half Chinese girl about a year or two younger than Tim.

"Now that was a cool transformation." Multiple grinned, Tim nodding with an impressed smile.

"Thanks." The girl said softly, but proudly, beaming at the praise. "I'm Haley, by the way. Haley Long."

"Well Haley, it's nice to meet you." Tim responded happily as they started onward again. "Now what do you guys say we pick up the pace. The sooner we're out of here, the better."

"Here, here!"

...

It didn't take too long after that to reach their destination. Opening the exit was a little tricky this time, considering that it was heavy and had to be done slowly, in case there was someone around, but once they knew they were clear, it was a piece of cake. With Haley simply looking like any other sweet little girl and Tim covering his head down and covered with a baseball cap, it was easy to blend into the streets. Once they covered themselves in Jamie's deodorant to block out that sewer smell anyway. With the clone having already disappeared, the only thing that got them any stares was the fact that they were out so late with a pair of bulky bags. But that was odd, not really suspicious.

"So where are we meeting up with your friends exactly?" Haley asked casually, smiling pleasantly at anyone who turned attention on them. She was used to this after all, she'd lived around here her whole life and her own dragon life had her walking the streets seemingly alone plenty of times. Add to the fact that her father had only recently learned that she and Jake were dragons and the result was an entire life of practicing facades.

"Bueno Nacho." Tim replied, his voice perfectly happy, revealing none of the nerves Haley was sure he was feeling right now. After all, when you share the face of a wrongly accused terrorist brother and you know the big guns after him are close by, it can leave you pretty afraid. "Where else would we go?"

Haley had to admit, it made sense. She never went there, but she knew about it. A fast food business, the one kind of place kids and teenagers could always be found unsupervised. There, they'd actually blend in with the crowd and it was nearby, meaning less time to be spotted on the streets. And since the soldiers had no idea who they were looking for...

"Here it is!" Turning a corner, Tim picked up the pace as a brightly lit building with a sombrero shaped roof came into view. Walking through the automatic doors, he looked around quickly, but carefully, trying to avoid anyone getting a good look at his face.

"Timothy!" Looking up a little more, Tim smiled brightly as he found Aang and Jamie in a booth hidden back in a corner, waving them over. It didn't take Tim any time at all to head over and sit down opposite them, Haley following close behind.

"No followers?" He asked quietly, looking more to Jamie as they got comfy, thankfully accepting the cups of lemonade.

"None." Jamie whispered back, looking like he was struggling not to jumpy around like a child on a sugar rush. "They could figure out where any of us were to begin with and when you took the lights out...well, they only got close to my double-gangers because they purposely led them to dead ends."

"Still, that shattered glass thing was risky. I could have accidentally killed anyone with that stuff all lying around." Aang muttered, pointing a serious look Tim's way, getting an apologetic one in return.

"Yeah, sorry. I only intended to turn the lights off. Light the van." Tim muttered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't have any idea how to really control my power."

"You have one too?" Haley asked, turning to him with intrigue. "You never mentioned it."

"Techno-telepathy. I think." He said quietly, double checking that no one was watching. "I kinda only discovered it yesterday and all the people who could confirm it were unconscious by that point. I can figure out how machines work just by look and touch and I can make then turn off and on or open and close. And apparently make them fall apart or overload, according to tonight." He added sheepishly.

"Well, now that we've come to tonight, thank you guys for rescuing me." Haley said, bowing her head appreciatively. "I really owe you guys. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Haley. It's nice to meet you." She added, smiling at Aang.

"The pleasure is ours. My name is Aang." Aang smiled back with a bow of his head.

"So Haley, we were wondering if you could possibly have any information on Jim we could use." Tim's voice was barely audible as he said that, tilting his face close to her ear so that only she could hear it. "We're out here, all on our own trying to track him down. Anything you could give us would help. Heck, at the very least I'll know how my twin's handling all this."

"I know a little. But I won't say a thing here." Haley answered, taking a large sip of her drink before turning to the boys. "I'll make you guys a deal. You share your story on how this whole thing started and I'll share what I know. But first, we go to my home. My family was at Grampa's electronics shop when everything went down and if any of them made it out of all that, they'll have headed home. I need to see if they made it and besides, we'll have privacy there."

"Deal." Jamie nodded instantly. The others nodded consent too; however, it was a lot more hesitant. If her family wasn't found at the ruined store, then it was highly unlikely that they'd be home. It was basically guaranteed that the Phoenix got them too.

...

Admittedly, the walk to Haley's home was a bit of a risky one, despite hanging around Bueno Nacho for another half hour so the boys could chow down gives the military more time to, hopefully, vacate the area. Haley's home was only a few streets away from the shop. In the end, they chose to go the long way and head in through an alleyway leading to their back door, Haley feeling particularly happy that she'd thought to keep her key on her person.

"Mom? Daddy? Jake, Grampa, Foo? Are any of you here?" Haley shouted, running straight into the family room only to grow more desperate as she entered. The room hadn't been touched. "MOM! JAKE! Please be here!" Starting to hyperventilate, she ran up the stairs two at a time and slammed open every room, her crumbling state only getting worse with every empty room. "JAKE!" Tears were falling freely down her face as she got to the last room, only for it to be empty too. "No. They're not here. Th-they weren't there either, so where...where are they, where'd they go?" Shaking, she fell against the wall and down it, wrapping her arms around her as she sobbed. She didn't even look up when the boys caught up to her, ignoring their sympathetic and empathetic looks.

"Haley..." Tim started, placing a hand on her shoulder as he dropped to his knees beside her. "The Phoenix...well, a lot of people have disappeared without a single trace being left behind after it attacked. Even the X Men." He said sadly, Jamie nodding and beginning to cry himself as he and Aang sat down before them. "I'm so sorry that this happened to you." He add, as she sobbed. Not knowing what to do as she failed to respond, he simply wrapped an arm around her, trying to comfort her as best he could despite knowing first hand that it was useless.

"But that doesn't mean that they're dead." That brought Haley's sobs to a halt. Their jaws dropping or eyes widening, all three of the other instantly whipped their heads up to Aang. It took only a few seconds before they simultaneously turned into expression that were best described as 'explain now'.

"Think about it. For all the injuries that have occurred due to the Phoenix, there hasn't been one confirmation of death, right? No dead bodies, only disappearances. That doesn't make any sense." Aang started, unperturbed as they simply continued to gape as he went on. "Everyone found, no matter how good or bad they were, were only injured. The kinds of things that have happened around it should have made that impossible. A lot of people should have died without being incinerated, especially at Middleton High, but no, people were only left with burns, broken bones and concussions.

"There's also the fact that the reporters haven't even mentioned any piles of ash where people have disappeared." He went on, becoming more convinced himself as he did and definitely returning hope to Haley and Jamie. "Even I know that even after incineration, there's still _something_ left behind. And we already know that the Phoenix' cosmic flames can carry things and people inside them without hurting them. Jim's walking proof of that! So there is still a good chance that they're all alive."

"Dragons can't be burnt to death so quickly, no matter how hot the flames are." Haley muttered, realisation dawning on her face. "Even if they died, there would be a _lot _of remains."

"Dragons?" Tim perked up, his face quickly changing to a look of amazement and curiosity as he connected the dots. "Are you telling me that multiple people in your family have the exact mutation that you do? How's that possible?" He cried, throwing his hands up wildly. "The chances of that are like a billion to one! There's no record of it ever happening. Heck, Jim and I are identical _twins_ and even we have different abilities. Granted, they're both to do with our minds, still!"

"Actually...it's because my dragon powers aren't from the advanced X gene." Haley admitted hesitantly, delving the room into silence. Staring around at each boy's incredulous eyes, she took a deep breath and made a decision her Order probably wouldn't approve of. But for once, she just didn't care about following the rules. "I promised to tell you all I know about Jim and the Phoenix. What I know actually started thousands of years ago and has a connection to my heritage. Back when the world was fully aware of the magic and magical creatures that thrive all over it to this day."

The group spent hours sharing all they knew about the Phoenix and every past and origin connected to it, only pausing to move to the couches downstairs. Surprises, interruptions and keen questions were passed back and forth well into the night, all four of the rapt so deep into the amazing recountings that they probably wouldn't have noticed an earthquake. So, none of them even noticed the cat at the window, taking in every word they said.

_My my, what a fascinating story. _Mystique thought, very much intrigued. She was particularly interested in the Phoenix and the Avatar. Such unique, powerful entities could make valuable allies and one of the keys to getting to the Phoenix was sitting right in front of her.


	11. Chapter 11 (Omake)

**AN:** Hey readers. This little funny moment popped in my head a couple of days ago and I decided to share. I think I'll do more of them, it's nice just writing them in bonding moments. Well, I hope you get a few laughs.

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><p><strong>Omake 1<strong>

Anyone who walked by the Long Family's study would think that a fridge, a washing machine and probably three other large mechanical devices had sprung apart in there. Pieces of metal and wiring decorated the room, randomly lying all over the floor. It was an utter mess.

Or at least, that's what it looked like to everyone except the boy tinkering away in the middle of it all.

Tim had been using the room for days. Failure after failure at finding Jim had left him in increasingly bad moods, so after the third day in the house he gathered every piece of machinery, tools and parts that he could into the study and set to work.

It was definitely not the same without Jim beside him, helping with construction, working on his own parts of the project and handing him the exact tool that he needed before he'd even asked for it, but still, the familiar motions of constructing, deconstructing and modifying machines was still very soothing to him. It was less fun without Jim, but it still brought a relaxed smile to his face as he modified his handheld force field generator to be able to maintain more power and make a force bubble twice as big as before. He hadn't even needed any new parts except a slightly bigger battery. Being a technopath definitely had a lot of benefits.

"Almost got it." He muttered, slowly lowering a soldering iron to his latest creation. He had plenty of parts to work with and had quickly made a few new toys. He was sure the Long Family's electronics shop wouldn't miss the five VCRs he'd taken, they'd been simply collecting dust. Besides, who hadn't moved on to DVD players yet? No one bought just a VCR anymore and their parts could be used for so many things.

"And...done." Grinning triumphantly as the last wire was soldered into place. The main part of the device was complete. Now he just had to put in some settings so it could be properly controlled and t-

"Hey Tim!" The young Possible almost threw his new toy as the loud, cheerful greeting hit his ears. By the time he turned around to face the door, the voice's owner had already bounded into the room and had him taking a step back to avoid smacking heads.

"Hey, cool, you finished off another invention?" Jamie asked, quickly growing excited at the sealed, slightly bulky sphere with what looked like a camera lens on the front Tim had firmly in his hands.

"Basically, about two seconds ago." Tim nodded, caught between pride for his work and caution. He really wanted to show it off, but Jamie was...excitable. He really liked the guy, he was fun to be around, but he was a master of chaos once he got excited. As much as Tim enjoyed causing chaos, there was a time and a place for it and inventing time wasn't it.

"Cool! So what does this one do?"

"Hey, careful!" Tim cried, a little panicked as Jamie snatched the device from his hands. "It can't take much concussion."

"That's force, right?" Jamie asked distractedly as his fingers danced all over the machine, turning it around in his hands. "Soooo?" He asked, turning his attention back to the nervous inventor. "What'll happen if I press this-"

"Wait!" Too late. Before Tim could do anything to stop him, Jamie's thumb had hit the button and unleashed a flash from the lens so bright that the duplicator had to close his eyes. He never saw the light consume Tim.

It was over in a split second, but that was more than enough time for Tim to scream and to terrify Jamie. What had he done!

_Oh no! Please don't let me have vaporised him!_ Fear and desperation had Jamie's eye snapping open as soon as the light dimmed. He couldn't bear the thought that he'd just stupidly hit a button and hurt one of his friends, he had no idea what that machine did, he could have...

"BAHAHAHAHAHA!" All his worries and self-directed reprimands disappeared the instant he saw Tim through the white spots, replaced immediately by hysterical humour. The crossed arms and glare Tim was giving him normally would have made Jamie sheepish and apologetic, but the effect was lost completely due to his apparel. For in place of his normal red shirt and jeans, Tim was clad in a pink onesie, complete with a matching pacifier in his mouth and 'Daddy's little Princess' written boldly across his chest. "OH, MY GOD, YOU LOOK REDICULOUS, HAHAHAHAHA"

"Oh really?" Tim snarled, ripping the device from Jamie's hands and effectively shutting him up as it was pointed at him. "Let's see how you turn out!"

A look of fear was the only response Jamie could make before the flash of light appeared again. Slowly opening his eyes again as it died down again and Tim's snickering filled his ears, he nervously looked down and instantly felt his jaw drop. He was completely naked except for a skirt made of leaves, his skin marred with dirt smudges.

"Hey, that was my favourite..." He started, only to stop as he rested his hand on his chest, his indignation turning confused. "I still feel my sweater."

"Duh! This makes illusions that wrap around the body." Tim informed him, holding up the device. "The device takes the shape of your body into account as it sets the disguise up. That's why it only looks like you've gone native. But still," He added, a smirk growing on his face. "Without Haley here, this one isn't embarrassing enough payback." With that, he hit the button again before Jamie could stop him only to pout disappointedly as the resulting flash disappeared to reveal Jamie dressed like Indiana Jones.

"Now I look cool!" Jamie laughed, checking out his reflection in a computer screen. "Is that the best you got?"

Tim simply responded by hitting the button again and laughed as Jamie was next seen pouting in the armour of Wonder Woman, boots, tiara and all.

"I'll get you for that!" He cried, yanking the machine from Tim as the inventor's head was thrown back with laughter, only for him to panic as he realised what was about to happen. One flash later, he was even more horrified by his appearance than before! Now he was simply clad in a diaper, with wings on his back and red love hearts decorating his body. "HAHAHA! You're cupid!"

"Now if only I had the bow and arrows." Tim snapped, diving at Jamie and swiping the device from his hands before pulling himself into a roll and back on his feet before activating it again.

...

_Well, that was less than productive._ Aang groaned to himself, walking a little moodily through the hallway, his eyes planted firmly on the floor. He'd been up on the roof meditating, or rather trying to, but cries, cheers and laughter had become almost constant interruptions, and when it became clear that the day's peace was good and gone, he just gave up.

"I bet they found some video game and went out killing each other or something." He grumbled to himself. After all, the noise definitely was...

The thought was never finished as a flash of light and a disgusted cry burst out from the study just as Aang was about to reach it. Startled and a little edgy, he moved straight to the doorway only to feel his jaw hit the floor and his eyes bug out at the sight of the other boys. Tim was dressed up as a goofy clown, complete with red puffy hair, white face makeup and a big, round red nose. And then there was Jamie. Wearing a purple ball dress and a white bonnet.

"What the-"

"Sshh!" A voice giggled behind him, cutting off his exclamation. Turning around, he found Haley leaning around the door opposite the study with a camera in one hand and directing him out of the way with the other as the boys struggled to use the device again. Another flash went off a second later, revealing Jamie now dressed as a Roman gladiator.

"Do I even want to know what's going on?" Aang muttered quietly as he moved to Haley's side, clearing out of her way as she took another picture.

"They've been doing that for ten minutes. And I've caught every costume change" Haley giggled, clamping a hand over her mouth and nodding her head back towards the lit up computer the camera was wirelessly sending photos to before taking another photo as the clown suit was turned into the leotard of a circus' strong man.

His curiosity getting the better of him, he moved over to the computer and almost immediately had to struggle with everything he had to not laugh longer and louder than ever before. While there were some cool or mundane outfits, like army uniforms and surfers' styles, at least half of them looked absolutely mortifying. And the faces captured with each one. Priceless.

"So, which one do you find the most hilarious?" Haley snorted, barely containing herself. "'Daddy's Princess', cupid, ball gown Jamie, the pixie look?"

"All of the above." Aang said as calmly as he could, biting his lip so hard it almost bled before turning to Haley, doing everything in his power to keep a straight face. "These are photos, right?"

"Yeah."

"And you can make handheld copies, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"You have got to give me a copy of these."

"Bro, when this is all over, everyone involved is going home with a copy of these." At that point, neither of them could help it anymore and just laughed uncontrollably. A sound that dominated the house until a Tarzan Tim and duck suit clad Jamie finally noticed what they were up to and screamed in mortal terror.

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><p><strong>An:<strong> This idea came from an urge to show them interacting as normal kids and a random memory of Phineas and Ferb's ball gowninator. Did anyone else find it funny?


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:** Thank you Cajunbear73 for the reviews of the last two updates. It's always nice to know your work's appreciated.

Well, on with the show.

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><p><strong>New Finds And Places With Familiar Faces<strong>

Jim wasn't sure where he was, but by that point, he didn't really care. Judging from some random hikers and an old fashioned town just within his field of vision, it was a mountainous region somewhere in Asia, possibly China. It had freaked him out a little at first, after all, the Phoenix had stuck around America before, but it was quickly forgotten as other, more important facts came to mind.

First was that it was actually quiet in his mind. Well, aside from the storm of his own thoughts as he tried to sort through everything. With the hikers going on their way, there was no human around for miles and animals were barely noticeable unless they were freaked. Fortunately, it didn't seem like any were being hunted at the moment, so he was free to enjoy the peace and stop stressing over who's mind he risked destroying next.

The other noteworthy piece of information was that he actually remembered some of the time he was possessed! It was only small two second clips here and there and all of them were a jumbled mess that he'd yet to figure out how to straighten out, but it was still something completely new. As bad as it all was, it still gave him a little relief. Not knowing anything happening whenever the takeover began, not having any clue how many people could have been hurt or killed; it was enough to drive him insane. At least now, he knew what to feel guilty about instead of just assuming the worst and destroying himself. And he could let a little relief through his system as he realised that he'd actually managed just enough control to stop the Phoenix from taking the hurt Haley and the rest of the family that had been consumed by the flames had...

"Whoa!" The boy was brought back to reality harshly as he stepped on a loose clump of rocks and almost fell right down a cliff. Panicking as his body rocked forward again, he jerked himself back as hard as he could and flailed his arms in circular motions until he successfully fell back on his butt and scooted back more than a safe distance from the very high drop.

_Dude, you're on a mountain trail. Watch where you walk!_ Shaking his head and taking a few deep breaths as he scolded himself, he pushed himself back a little further until his back relaxed against solid mountain side stone. Finally calming his breathing, he closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying to ward off a headache as he restarted his goal of sorting out the jumbled mess that was his mind right now. He was safe where he was for now and he needs all these memories sorted before he was taken over again and a new load was added to the jumble. After all, some of it, if he could piece it together properly and give it to the right people, just might save some lives.

...

"Haven't you got the cooling system online YET?" Jim wasn't the only foreigner inhabiting the mountains. In fact, he was only a few miles away from what looked like an old, abandoned fortress. That is until you noticed the hidden security cameras and high tech, motion sensor guided laser system hidden on and within the fortress walls.

Moving within revealed that the whole place had been modernised into what could only be described as the lab of and evil scientist. Wires, light and all different types of unnecessarily complicated computer systems and ridiculous, but dangerous looking devices were scattered all over the main rooms and hallways, all of them being tweak or monitored by men in full, red body suits, many of whom had to back away as sparks started flying. And right in the centre of the fortress, standing before the biggest and weirdest machine in the building was a man with blue skin, black hair tied into a pony tail and a scar on his face that was turning red as he shouted.

"I'm sorry sir, we're still having a bit of difficulty finalising the air tubes and the connections with the generator." A particularly bulky minion replied calmly, standing casually before him. He was used to this by now. Dr Drakken was all bark and no bite, particularly with his minions. He'd been threatened with being fired countless times, yet here he was. Drakken needed them too much, it was too hard to replace minions in the evil, take over the world game. "We're using the same generator for half the equipment and this place was built and forgotten before electricity was discovered. Its design and age is making it difficult to safely alter it to set up the wires without causing a collapse or hazard."

"Well stop yapping and get on with it!" Dr Drakken snapped, stomping irritably across the room and flinging his arm up to a heat sensor on the other side of his machine. "My doom ray's temperature needs to be maintained at a cool level! If not, we're looking at an _explosion_ big enough to WIPE US ALL OUT!"

"Then here's a crazy thought: turn it off" Scowling, Drakken followed the sarcastic drawl and turned to a set of monitors and a woman clad in green and black slouching in a chair before them, her face buried in a magazine. "It's not like we can use it right now anyway, you haven't even finished it yet."

"Are you crazy Shego?" Drakken cried, bending over with his hands placed on his hips, looking more like a scolding parent than anything else. "With us relying solely on the few, lousy generators instead of the electrical grid, gathering the power this ray needs takes forever! If I turn it off, then knowing my luck, Kim Possible will have discovered us, stopped us and sent us to prison before I even get it halfway charged."

"Yeah, and we can't have that. So let's save her the trouble of foiling your failure plan of the day by leaving it on without any way to cool it and blowing ourselves to smithereens instead." Shego retorted with a mock chipper voice before letting her usual 'you're an idiot' look consume her face once again.

As usual, all Drakken could do in response was sputter and snarl back before pouting. Though, he had to admit that she had a point. So, muttering about mouthy, know-it-all sidekicks under his breath, he stepped up to the machine's command consol and shut it down.

"There, it's off. Let's hope that the battery doesn't dry up while we're waiting." He grumbled moodily before turning back to the henchman, who had yet to move even a single step. "And what are you waiting for? Get back to work!" He snapped, raising his unusually tiny fist at him. "I want that cooling system online WITHIN THE HOUR!" It wouldn't have ever looked very impressive to begin with, however, any intimidation that didn't exist would have disappeared completely anyway as giant yellow flower petals popped around his head.

"HAHAHA! You're-you're still doing that?" Shego cracked up, wrapping her hands around her stomach and shaking with mirth as Drakken threw a tantrum and pulled every petal off only for her to laugh harder as they all popped up again. "Oh-haha-that never gets old."

"Well, I'm so pleased that you're amused Shego." Drakken grunted sarcastically, giving up as they regrew for the third time. "Now, if you wouldn't mind actually watching the monitors for ten minutes..."

"Yeah, yeah Mr Flower Power, I'm watching them. I'm just reading my magazine and laughing at you at the same time." She cackled, letting her eyes flicker over the screens. Hey, when you work for a guy who's plans always fail and/or blow up in your face, you take all the fun out the situation that you can get. Besides, few people even knew or cared that this rundown place even existed. With no paper trail, sightings or electrical surges to point to their presence, who was going to show up there any time soon?

...

Getting a ride to the middle of nowhere from another continent, without an airport for miles all around, wasn't an easy feat, even for Kim and Wade. In the end, they simply took the parachuting approach. It wasn't like it was the first time after all and really needed to get to the old Chinese village.

She and Wade had been doing everything they could to track her brothers and unfortunately, even they were having limited success. After finally getting on to her parents, getting the whole story and finding out that Tim and his new friends had run off in an attempt to find Jim themselves, the two of them had searched every media type, the web, and hacked into more than one emergency frequency trying to pinpoint both twins, but most information was sketchy. Multiple reports had spoken of Jim, spotting him in New York City even after the Phoenix attack, him collaborating with a dragon mutant that was later freed from the military wanting answers from her by a group of unidentified mutant teenagers of an unknown number, also believed to be collaborates and various claims of a firebird or red streaks flying by from New York to around half of Asia. Tim hadn't been mentioned at all, though Kim was pretty sure the most of the later New York sightings were her red clad brother in a case of mistaken identity. Tim was probably still in New York City, but he'd be well into hiding right now and seemed relatively safe with a major elemental and mass clone distributer beside him. She doubted that even she could pin him down with all, plus his own sneaky, mischievous nature going for him. Besides, he was looking for Jim too, so finding the younger twin was the quickest way to finding them both.

The real problem with that plan at the moment however, was that she forgot to bring a translator. "I...am...looking...for...that!" She said slowly and clearly, adding as many hand signs as she could and pointing to a picture of the Phoenix. The man in front of her look thoroughly baffled through the bulk of it, though he spoke quickly when he saw the picture. Unfortunately, the game of charades was getting them nowhere.

"I don't know one word you just said." Kim sighed, rubbing her temples as she gave him an apologetic look and waved goodbye as the man shrugged and walked away. That had happened about five times already.

"I still don't even know if I'm in the right place." She groaned, throwing her head back irritably before pressing on, hoping she could luck out and find just one person who knew a scrap of English.

Connecting the times and places of the reported sightings of the Phoenix had been long and arduous, with more than a few blank points in time and confusing destinations. It was completely erratic in some places and relatively straight forward in others, as if it was trying to shake people off its tail time and again, but still having a destination in mind. This town was the closest place to the last sighting they could find. A few people had called it in from a town to the south, but no one in the nearest towns and cities in any direction had called in even a single sighting since. It was the last sighting called in period and seeing as every destination it had previously was in a human inhabited area, this town was the best shot they had.

"Of course, if we were wrong and he didn't come this far north, then I'm making a fool of myself here for nothing." Kim grumbled as she approached an old woman. "Still, might as well try again."

...

Jim had to admit, he'd gained a whole new respect for the calm and quiet art of meditating. Sun's methods were the perfect solution to a nice chunk of his telepathic problems. He didn't even need her to calm him down anymore; he was learning to do it on his own. Now, even the animals' weaker signals had vanished from his mind, his telepathy finally going completely inactive. He never knew that having a blank mind could be so...peaceful.

Taking a deep, slow breath, he let a small grin grow on his face, if only for a second. If only his family could see him now, sitting calmly and quietly, his eyes closed and his legs crossed. They'd probably panic and have his mother doing a full physical on him, declaring that he must be morbidly ill or something.

He let the thought go a moment later though. It was counterproductive of what he was trying to do right now. Taking another slow, deep breath, he cleared his mind completely before allowing his mind to travel to the mess of memories and slowly pick them apart.

There were plenty of cities and towns, rivers and forests, mountains and seas, all from high up and disappearing quickly. He'd been flying amazingly fast. There was the explosion at the Long family's electronics store, everyone around him watching with widening, horrified eyes as the flames burst forth. He could remember watching it happen and desperately wanting to save Sun and the Long family. And he remembered...remembered that...the Phoenix had complied!

He remembered the Phoenix going after Haley and how a part of him had been so desperate to save her that his subconscious actually fought the Phoenix and succeeded just enough for it to leave her be. He remembered then moving off to a place...somewhere...

Sighing loudly, he gave up and slouched, opening his eyes and staring a little frustratedly at his knees. He couldn't remember the journey from New York. He only got small snippets of his international flight all the way through it. But he knew that it didn't matter for the most part, only the initial flight mattered. Because it was to his first intended destination, underground or in a cave somewhere. A place that he had to find, to tell people about. A place that the Phoenix had already gone to twice.

_Nothing I can do about it right now._ He sighed resignedly, pulling himself to his feet. He'd singled out every memory he got, there was nothing left to find in his head. He'd just have to wait until the Phoenix inevitably took control again, hope that it would go there again and, most importantly, that he'd get to remember the destination's location.

Letting that sink in, he decided that it would be best to head up the path. If he didn't want to interact with the villagers, none of whom were likely to speak English anyway, then he'd have to find some running water and edible vegetation. He had a feeling that he hadn't eaten in a real long time.

...

Lost in his telepathy free ponderings and desire for food, he never noticed as a guy in a red body suit strolled around a corner from another path only to gasp and jump back behind the stone wall.

"No way." He muttered shakily as peeked around the corner again. Scared that his trembling would loosen the rocks, he forced his body away from the wall as soon as he was sure the boy hadn't seen him and watched as he wondered up the trail.

"The Possible boy! It is him." He whimpered, looking the boy over time and again, desperate to find some proof that he was wrong only to start hyperventilating as the hope was crushed. "Not him. Anyone but him."

Only waiting long enough for the terrain to block Jim from his sight, he whipped back around the way he came and ran as fast as he could back to the fortress. Dr Drakken needed to know about this immediately. Ignoring the fact that one Possible showing up always meant that Kim Possible wasn't far behind, the kid was a danger to them all. He'd seen the news reports during his work breaks. The kid brought a wake of destruction with him wherever he went. If they didn't do something soon, they'd all be obliterated.

...

The thug's trip was over in almost an instant, a strange thing since he'd been walking from the hideout for at least twenty minutes. He almost got himself killed by the defence system as he rushed in, not bothering with his pass, but instead running though it so fast that he left the lasers spinning in his wake.

"BOSS!" He screamed as soon as he made it through the door, not slowing down even slightly as he ran down the cluttered corridors. "BOSS! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"

"Oh, what now? You better not be telling my you dropped the modulator chips again." Drakken growled, turning irritably as the guy burst into the main room, almost collapsing from lack of breath.

"N-no sir. Much worse." He forced out between breaths bending over onto his knees.

"Worse?" Dr Drakken gulped loudly, fear immediately replacing his irritation. "What do you mean by worse?"

"The...Possible child...nearby." He forced out, drawing even Shego's rarely seen attention and freaking Drakken out.

"Possible? Kim Possible's here already?" He shrieked, throwing his hands into his hair and running in circles. "But why would she be here so soon, I haven't even done anything, how would she even know we were here, what are we-"

"Not Kim Possible. Her brother!" The thug cried, finally getting his breath back. The statement instantly caused a mixed reaction with those in the room. Many of his fellow minions whimpered or gasped in the corners. Shego lost the cocky smirk she'd been wearing at the thought of fighting Kim and tensed. Dr Drakken however...

"You got me all riled up...for a insignificant _kid_?" He shouted, quickly going from freaked to angered. "Who cares if the little brat and his family's decided on a ridiculous vacation location? It just means we have a chance at a great hostage or four if Kim Possible does show up. Why would you alarm us over something so INSIGNIFICANT?"

"Aahh, Dr D?" Shego called, resisting the urge to slap him in the face. "You haven't been watching any TV lately have you?"

"No! Some of us have been busy actually working." He snapped moodily, whipping around to her with his arms crossed, completely failing to register the worried look on her face.

"Ok, first of all, tinkering with toy telescopes and cackling like a lunatic doesn't count as work. And second, that boy's been all over the news for mass destruction!" She exclaimed, starting calmly and ending dramatically, forcefully pointing to one of the security screens as she randomly switched it to a TV channel and causing Drakken to scream the second the image changed. Sure enough, a shot of the Phoenix was all over the screen with the reporter talking about the travesty brought on by Jim Possible, the extremely volatile mutant.

"Building sized firebird? Highly violent? Explosion? Are we sure that's him?" Drakken squeaked as he watched, paling considerably. "He is a garden variety twin right? I always remember two of him. Are you sure you didn't see the other one? Ted or Tommy, or whatever his name was?"

"He's barely been mentioned at all, but I doubt it's because he decide to run away from home and all the way to China." Shego responded dryly as she set the screen back to security footage.

"And the latest reports mentioned the firebird flying over Asia." The minion added fearfully.

"Then we have to get him out of here! Drakken cried, going into a full blown panic. "He could wipe out the entire area! We're not safe! It's too late to move all the equipment and I need my equipment! What do we do, what do we do?"

"First we stop acting like a panicky school girl noticing her little crush is heading her way." Shego stated snidely, grabbing the Dr and forcing him into a complete halt. "Then, since we'll die if we confront him forcefully, we wait until he falls asleep and carefully get rid of him before he can wake up."

"Brilliant! Deal with him while he's asleep and defenceless. What a great plan. Glad I thought of it." Drakken declared boastfully only to scream as a green energy blast smoked his backside, courtesy of an indignant Shego. "FINE, FINE! It was your brilliant plan!" He cried painfully as he ran comically around the room with his butt smoking. Shego just smirked and blew her smoking nails out in response. No one, not even Drakken, ever better dare to take credit for one of her plans.

...

Finding safe food and water proved to be quite the challenge for Jim. By the time he had found a stream and collected a couple handfuls of berries he was ninety five percent sure weren't poisonous, the sun was already going down and creating a new problem.

Wherever he was had definitely reached its colder half of the year. As the sun left the sky, so did the warmth of the area, causing shivers to run ramped through his body. Quickly eating his berries and hoping they would result in his death, he cupped his hand in the stream and drank greedily before crawling under a low ledge, hiding from the icy, increasing gusts of wind blanketing the area.

"At times like this, I really wish I had my gadgets with me." He mumbled as his teeth started to chatter, curling himself into a ball as it only got colder. His blaster rays, his rockets, heck, just about everything he'd created could have helped him at least get a fire going or block the flickers of wind still reaching his exposed skin. The white shirt and black shorts the Longs had supplied him with were a little oversized, allowing him to curl up more of his body into them, but they weren't designed to protect him from weather this cold.

_And of course, the one time the Phoenix' powers would be useful, the stupid bird goes dormant._ He thought spitefully, biting down on his lip. A little warming fire would really be good right now. Had he mentioned that already? Yes? Who cares, he had a right to repeat himself to himself, it was freezing! And the berries, though they fortunately hadn't caused any negative reactions so far, weren't nearly enough to satisfy his hunger.

Turning his back to the wind, he laid his tightly curled up body down and closed his eyes, rubbing his hands quickly all over his arms and chest under his shirt, preparing himself for the cold night ahead. This was as good as he was going to get right now. Assuming no panthers or bears came to eat him throughout the night, he could only hope to tough it out and find a better solution tomorrow.

...

Nearby, crouching low and hiding within the dark, five of Drakken's minions watched on silently. A few of them actually felt sorry for the boy to be honest. He didn't look like a hyper violent monster, he looked like a worried, miserable child lost in the cold.

However, all of them were fully aware not to let appearances deceive you, particularly when Possibles and mutants are involved and this boy fit into both categories. It was a lesson that was learnt the hard way time and again in Drakken's employment.

"Do we move in now?" One guy asked nervously, fiddling nonstop with his hands. He'd been fiddling, shaking and babbling under his breath the whole time they'd been watching the kid. None of them wanted anything to do with this job, morality and self preservation were screaming at all of them, but he was particularly out of it.

"Not yet." The group leader shook his head, motioning them all to move a bit further back. "We'll wait to awhile longer. I doubt he's asleep yet. We'll give him more time."

With that, they sat back and relaxed, most of them taking to fiddling in the dirt. After all, none of them wanted to think about what they were supposed to do. Possible and mutant or not, their victim to be was still just a child.

...

It was dark, she had no idea of the terrain or potential dangers in the area, yet no amount of difficulty or danger could remove the excited look on Kim's face or slow down her dangerously high speed even slightly. She'd come to many dead ends and almost fallen to her death twice, but still she pressed on through the rocky trails. Nothing was going to stop her now.

She'd almost lost hope down in the village. Blank stares, lots of words she couldn't even pronounce, let alone understand, and headaches were all she'd managed to get the whole way through. It wasn't until she'd probably overpaid a guy for a room of an Inn and ordered a meal in a small restaurant connected to it by pointing to a picture on the menu that she actually found someone who could actually answer her question.

She'd left the picture of the Phoenix on the table and a passing boy, probably fourteen or fifteen, got all excited, talking a mile a minute as he pointed at it. It still took a little bit of charades, but she quickly worked out that he'd seen a large, bird shaped fire coming from the mountainous area just outside of town. When her meal came out she'd simply grabbed it, packed it in a box and thrust the money into the waiter's hand before running out the door. She'd grabbed her hiking boots from the Inn and stuffed some food in her face as quickly as she could before running right back out and off to the rocky cliffs, not stopping since.

"Keep going Kim. There's only so many paths left." She muttered as her flashlight found another steep wall in her way and turned back around, retracing her steps to a fork in the road and taking the next route.

She'd said the same thing all night, using it to push down her common sense. Common sense would have told her that this was ridiculously dangerous, that she'd most likely just get lost or drop off a cliff, that she should wait until the morning and get Wade to bring up a map on her Kimmunicator. But she didn't care. The Phoenix' flights were frequent and impossible to predict. She refused to let it escape her and force her back to square one. After all, today had had Kim wanting to bash her head into a wall and her brother needed her now. Reuniting with him was all that mattered.

It wasn't until she stopped and thought about what Jim would do that she actually got on the right track. Deciding that she'd had enough of possibly hitting the same dead ends, she took a moment to rest and put herself in his shoes.

_Let's see._ She hummed, taking a seat and giving her tired feet a rest. Rocky roads with constantly changing sizes and inclines for hours on end were perfect for exhausting even the fittest of people. She actually sighed as the pressure was taken off her feet. _He obviously didn't want to go to the village because of his telepathy and the risk to lives. But he would still need food and water. So where would he go for it?_

_Well duh, a stream!_ She almost smacked herself in the head at such a stupid question. It was basic knowledge, running water leaving fresh water ponds and lakes was the safest non-decontaminated water there was. _So now the only question is where's the nearest stream?_

Fortunately, that turned out to have an easy answer. Since vision wasn't getting her anywhere right now, she closed her eyes and strained her ears for every sound she could find. The wind provided plenty of rustling leaves and rolling stones, small animals were scampering around and the occasional owl hoot was always picked up just fine. Too fine. They were loud and blocking out anything else that might...

_Hang on!_ Clenching her eyes tighter in a vain attempt to enhance her hearing, she ignored every other sound and smiled as she got the confirmation she'd been hoping for. The soft trickle of running water in the distance.

"Perfect!" She cheered, jumping to her feet and making a beeline for the direction of the water. She didn't even notice the pain and lethargy that caused her to rest only moments ago. She'd just gotten a second clue that promised progress.

Reaching the water, she swung her flashlight around and took a long, careful look over the entire area before following the water upstream. If Jim was anywhere in this area, he won't have gone far from the water. It wouldn't be long before she found him now.

...

It wasn't until she actually found him, when she thought that her happiness would reach its peak, that her smile fell, replaced by fear and rage. For as she pulled herself up over some rocks and found an uphill travel leading right to a boy's silhouette, the telltale, shadowy forms of bulky minions in form fitting body suits, the moonlight shining off of their shades, were all around him, one of them holding his unmoving form by the leg as if he was slowly dragging him.

"HOW DARE YOU TOUCH HIM!" By the time her echoing screech met the now very terrified men and had Jim jumping ten feet in the air as he awoke, she had already cleared the distance between her and the thugs. Flipping as they turned and screamed, she landed with her hands placed firmly on one minion's shoulders and kicked two others in the faces in the split second before continuing the flip off the first guy and planting both feet into his gut before using it as a springboard.

"AARRGGHH!" As he screamed in pain, Kim twisted her body to the point that even looking was painful as she flew through the air and struck the last two, her feet slamming into one guy's chest and her fists ploughing into a noticeably shorter guy's gut, send both crashing to the ground while she harmlessly rolled back onto her feet next to Jim.

"Kim?" Jim gasped, staring at her with wide, lost eyes. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

"In order?" Kim asked quickly as her first two victims recovered and charged her way, easily deflecting their punches before throwing an open palm into one guy's gut and sweep kicking the other. "Looking for you and a brawl, duh!"

The other three thugs were moving in for their own attack as she finished, but she wasn't worried in the least. After all, just last week, Ron had visited her and forced her to watch some serious martial artists with a very unique fighting method on the TV and her mimicry ability imbedded every bit of knowledge and skill shown right into her being. It was the perfect chance to try it out.

With the slightest of Fancy footwork and the excruciatingly painful looking twisting that even world class gymnasts strive and fail to duplicate, she easily got around every punch, kick and knife thrown her way and struck every one of her targets with scary precision, being the abdomen, the solar plexus and the pressure point near the neck, effectively knocking one out and sending the other two crumbling to the ground like a sack of potatoes, all three falling at once. The two still conscious definitely weren't getting up, both were gasping and screaming in agony.

"What was that?" Jim cried as the last two still able to move screamed like little girls and ran away with their tails in between their legs. He knew his sister was tough, but man, that was just scary and that was coming from the one guy there that could guarantee those moves would never be used on him.

"A little bit of Dim Mak combined with an almost entirely evasive style of martial arts used by some monks. I can't remember its name." Kim shrugged, glaring hard at the cripple thugs and their fleeing friends. However, it was instantly replaced by the warmest, most relieved look that Jim had ever seen on Kim's face in his entire life as she spun around and hugged him tight. "Oh, thank God, you're here and alright. I was so worried that our guess was wrong or that I'd come too late."

"You were looking for me?" Jim asked, forcing Kim's grip to lessen just enough for his to breathe before relaxing against her. It felt a little strange not fighting to escape like he had every other time his sister had hugged or grabbed him for years, but this time he loved it. He'd had an overwhelming need of affection that even Sun and the Longs couldn't quite sate. He'd needed it from his family, a physical reassurance that they were still there for him. As silly as it sounded, he knew Tim was right when he said his family would always accept him, but the Phoenix and everything it had done had him needing to hear it from one of them.

"Of course I was, you little tweeb." Kim muttered affectionately, rubbing soothing circles into his back. "I've seen all the news footage about you, and I've gotten the whole story up to Professor Xavier's institute from Mom and Dad, who by the way, will make perfect recoveries. Of course I'd be out looking for you, trying to help you."

"Wait, news reports? Mom and Dad are in the HOSPITAL?" Jim cried, horror-struck as he forced himself back and looked Kim right in the eye. "How did they end up hurt? Did..." He trailed off as his horrified look intensified, choking on his words. "...Did I...do it?" He barely got it out and his lungs were burning by the time he was done from the sheer amount of breath he wasted forcing it.

"The Phoenix did, yeah." Kim nodded, watching on with sympathy as he crumbled in guilt and grief, steadying him before he fell, struggling to keep her self-directed anger down. She'd thought he knew what had been happening. Clearly, that wasn't the case by a long shot. "But don't worry, like I said, they're fine." She added as comfortingly as she could, pulling him close again. "And they don't blame you in the slightest. They just want you to come home safely."

"But I can't." Jim cried, tears falling freely as he shook his head. Kim nearly felt her heart shatter at the distraught, broken eyes of her normally bright, devious baby brother. To see someone she loved so much, who was always so full of life and excitement so broken... "I'm a threat to everyone around me. Even now, I'm starting to..." He came an abrupt halt as he growled in irritation, a hand flying to his head. Worried, Kim was about to ask what was wrong when a sudden, heavy pressure appeared in her own head, ripping a gasp from her lips as images from her senior trip to Mystic Cove Haven forced their way to the front of her mind, quickly followed by a number of random events.

"Sorry." Jim grunted, his voice cutting right through the images before they disappeared a moment later, leaving more of her mind to notice the slow, deep breathing her brother had taken to. Opening eyes that she didn't know she'd closed as the pressure faded away, she quickly found herself gobsmacked. Jim was sitting in a _meditative_ position, his eyes closed and his body calming. Even Kim, the calmest of the Possible children, had never had any patience for anything close to the dullness of meditation and yet here was Jim, one of the two most energetic and impulsive kids she'd ever known, doing it like a pro.

"Jim? When did you..." She asked, simply not able to fully accept it. It was just too impossible.

"I met a woman with strong magic and talent in the mental arts." Jim answered calmly, not even opening his eyes as he continued. "It wasn't until she'd used them on me that my telepathy and I calmed enough for me to be relatively safe around other people. Seeing as my emotions trigger telepathy, she offered to teach me how to meditate so I could start learning how to control my power on my own and I was desperate."

"I see. This...is going to take some getting used to." She muttered, scratching the back of her head before shaking it off. She could come to grips with the changes his mutation has caused in him later. Right now, there were much more important things to worry about. Like the fact that he was shivering. "Come on, let's get out of here." She said softly, offering her hand as he opened his eyes confusedly. "I have a room at the Inn down in the village and I'm sure we could find you some better suited clothes and food. You'll catch your death out here the way you are."

"But Kim, I can't." He shook his, worrying Kim as his face turned scared and desperate. "Every time the Phoenix comes out, it destroys everything around it and so many people get hurt or disappear. What I remember of what occurs after it comes out is all from the last time it happened, but I know it always causes pain and suffering. I can't risk it again."

"Jim, you can't stay here either. You'll freeze to death." Kim responded calmly, fighting back her emotions. Getting exasperated or impatient would not help either of them right now. "Come to the Inn with me tonight and tomorrow, we'll head out of here. We'll use every contact and favour Wade and I have to try and find a way to help you through this."

"But to stay with me is to put yourself in constant danger!" Jim cried, looking up at her desperately. "I don't want you to become one of the people missing without a trace or hospitalised."

"Well I'm not leaving you and any attempt to make that happen will either fail or hospitalise me." Kim responded matter-of-factly, and Jim knew it to be true. Her mutant abilities gave her the physical advantage, she could have a ride to anywhere in the world appear right in front of her within the hour and his telepathy was likely to destroy her mind if he was stupid enough to use it. Seeing the grudging acknowledgement growing on his face, she ruffled his hair, smirking at the irritated groan it produced as he batted her hands away and tried to reset it, stood up straight and headed back down the path.

Reaching the turn, she spared a single second to turn back and glare at the minions she'd downed. There was no doubt in her mind, only Drakken dressed his thugs in red body suits. Her old, most commonly fought foe was in the area, up to no good and tried to do away with her brother.

_I'll have Wade help track him down later._ She decided, pulling her shivering brother close as they continued on their way. She'd love to go track him down and beat the crap out of him for this, but right now, Jim was far more important. Helping him was her number one priority. Besides, Drakken would still be there when the Phoenix situation was resolved. There wasn't exactly a time limit where he was concerned.

"Kim?" Jim called hesitantly, biting his lip as he looked up at the young heroine. "There's something I need to tell you now. That I need everyone to know before I...lose control again."

"What is it?" She asked, looking down at him encouragingly as she once again held back her emotions. If she had her way, the Phoenix was never going to take over Jim again.

"The people who disappeared. That left no traces." He started, his face hardening from there into a look Kim knew very well. It was the look her brothers got when they demanded that you believe something, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. "They're all alive."

...

To say that Drakken was freaking out at this point would have got anyone dodging Shego's energy blasts for five minutes simply for pointing out the incredibly obvious. If his panicked screams weren't echoing throughout _the entire fortress_, his deep breathing was as he ran from one side of the main room to the next constantly, pulling at his hair, pouring rivers from his eyes and shaking like he was in the Arctic winter the whole time.

_Well, here' another moment for the world's most embarrassing scrapbook._ Shego mused, making a picture out of a freeze frame from the security cameras and adding it to her collection. It was something she'd been secretly doing ever since she'd signed on as his sidekick. It was hilarious to look at and had the added bonus of blackmail. After all, Drakken would never live it down if she showed all the times he looked like a nut, cried like a baby or got himself into one of those hilariously humiliating scenarios that he seemed to fall victim to with every new scheme he came up with to someone like Dr Dementor or Monkey Fist or even Duff.

Though, even she had to admit that he had sufficient grounds to panic this time. Each of the minions sent to deal with the Possible brat had had a camera implanted on the side of their shades, an item that Shego questioned the point of them using to begin with considering that it was NIGHT TIME, and had watched everything. They'd failed, Kim was in the area and both siblings had to know that so were they. That meant that both were likely to come after them and take their vengeance and that was a thought that gave even Shego a healthy dosing of terror. That firebird that kept appearing was like nothing she'd ever seen before and never wanted to see up close. It would take a lake to dowse those flames!

"SHEGO! What do we do, WHAT DO WE DO?" Drakken screeched, coming up and real close to Shego's face. So close that she wrenched back. "They'll come for us! The boy will probably KILL us! We don't have time to move the equipment and they'll see us if we try to get away! WHAT DO WE DO?"

"First, you stop SHOUTING IN MY EAR!" Shego snapped, thrusting herself up and scaring Drakken so much that he screamed and fell on his butt. "Now, it's not _as_ bad as you think." She continued more calmly. "For a start, there's no trail for them to follow to our hideout. They'd have to search the entire area by foot just to stumble on this place. And we haven't done anything yet. We could simply say that those boys were working on their own, without our knowledge and it's not like you sent them there to kill him, just to send him away. Miss Kimmy's the one who assumed that they were doing something more deadly. So there you go, we can stay here until the likely time that it blows over and they leave, or we can confront them and explain our true intentions of the men and make it sound like we only just found out. Considering that we haven't done anything evil in months, and I'm not even sure why you're building a new Doom Ray or doing any of this when you said you were done with the taking over the world thing, it is fairly believable."

That seemed to be enough for Drakken. The look he was giving Shego had gone from faint in horror to kid meeting Santa Claus as she went on. By the end of it, he was back on his looking like he could kiss her.

"Yes! Yes, you're absolutely right! After all, why would you and I be willing to kill one of our own, especially one that powerful? He'll be too great of an ally later! Yes, if they find us, we'll convince them of no intended harm, no problem."

"Wait, one of our kind?" Shego asked, suddenly completely lost. The boy becoming an ally? What the heck was he going on about? "You lost me Dr D."

"A mutant, Shego, just like you and me." Dr Drakken answered, calming himself right down as he turned away and walked to his newest machine.

"Since when are you and I mutants?" Shego cried, more than a little lost. "My powers came from a comet and yours came from an experiment gone wrong, not a mutated gene."

"Yes and no." Drakken shook his head, giving her his ever annoying 'I know something you don't' smile. "You see, not long ago, a man approached me while you were at a spa again and asked me about how we got our powers. He'd already done a lot of research on both of us and knew we didn't get them the natural way, so we did a few tests on our DNA together-"

"Please don't tell me you've been planning to clone me? _Again_!" Shego interrupted, her hands already glowing green.

"Oh no, of course not! I just had some blood I collected from one of your wounds once, in an attempt to see how the green glow affected your body. A curiosity I never got around to performing until this man showed up." He shrugged, quelling her anger to a mild irritation. She still wasn't too thrilled with him doing such a thing without her permission. "Anyway, we did the tests and while we were waiting on the results, we tried using my plant formula on one of my employees to see if he would gain my power too. Strangely enough, plants grew on him, but only the way they grow on machines or stone and he couldn't control them. Anyway, when the tests were done, we found the answer to that confusing result. The formula had gotten into my system through open wounds and nasal passes and mixed with the potential in me for a mutant X gene and advanced it into an active one."

"So, you're saying...that you are an artificially created mutant?" Shego asked slowly, trying to wrap her head around it. Such a thing had never been heard of before, with the exception of what the reports over the events of the mutant doing strange things to pyramids claimed. That been said, mutants were only outed to the entire world a couple of years ago, so who knew?

"Exactly Shego!" Drakken nodded excitedly. "My formula was designed to alter the genetic material of plants to make them into the fierce threat they were. So we did a little more experimentation on the formula and determined that it could, under very specific conditions, cause normal humans to make the evolutionary step to mutants. Not that we'd ever use it though. It was deemed only usable on people who were only one step away from being mutants already and just as likely to kill them as evolve them."

"And what about my test results?" Shego asked, frowning. It didn't take much to figure out where this was going.

"The radiation of the green glow infused in your system mixed with your own potential advanced X gene to develop your power." Drakken answered proudly. "You and your brothers are basically mutants, but it's less...fixed as the bird villain nut proved with his staff. You need the glow to keep your X gene active, but the glow has duplicated your power into itself, which is why the bird nut's staff was able to take them. Though, no one could ever take the green glow for example and have the extent of power it gives you."

"Interesting. So I'm actually a mutant." She shrugged. It wasn't exactly hard to accept, after all, she'd had her powers since she was a kid. Though, one thing was still gnawing at her. "So Dr D, who was that man? And why do you think a Possible will be our ally?"

"Oh Shego, we all know a war is coming." Drakken responded as he took a seat next to his newest creation and setting to work on it once again. "The humans are growing more aggressive towards us and it will only get worse when mutants naturally retaliate to it. It will eventually come down to race against race and only the stronger side will survive. Us mutants are more powerful than humans, but there's a lot less of us and we're far more scattered. So naturally, we would want someone like the Possible boy alive and on our side. And he'll have to fight for our side if he wants to survive too."

"And the man?" Shego asked, her patience running thin. How hard was it to say one lousy name?

"The man will be the one to bring the mutant forces together. He's one of the most powerful and intelligent mutants of all." Drakken smirked, looking up from his work only to gesture to it. "This particular Doom Ray is one that he asked me to try and develop and its name only applies to humans. You see, in order to aid our side, Magneto wants to try and create more artificially evolved mutants."

Magneto. Now that one stunned Shego good. Almost as much as Dr Drakken going from wannabe world conqueror to world hero and now to revolutionary.

_So now we're a cross between good guys and bad guys._ She mused, mulling it over. _Well fine, why not?_

...

"And he's sure? They're all really alive, without a doubt?" Wade asked for what had to be the fifth time. Personally, Kim was finding it annoying as hell having to repeat it all over again, but she let it slide this time, simply nodding in response. It was after all something hard to believe.

"He doesn't know where exactly, but everyone who's disappeared in the Phoenix' attacks are all in one place. It would have to be in America somewhere." Kim stated for what had to be the third time. "Wade, if we can find them, it will eliminate any death charges put to his name and back up everything else we gather to clear his name."

"That's very true. " Wade nodded, already typing on his keyboard fast. "I'll see what I can dig up or any lags between the Phoenix' appearances that might narrow down the wheres and whens he may have set them down. But this is going to take a while and it'll only be speculations with large areas to cover."

"We'll have to take what we can get Wade." Kim sighed, having already accepted that issue. "I'll let you know of anything else Jim remembers. You know, if he does remember anything else."

"Ok, I'll give you my guesses as soon as I can." Wade nodded before bidding farewell and closing the connection. Finally alone, Kim let out the exasperated sigh she'd been holding back for five minutes and flopped onto her bed face down.

It hadn't taken nearly as long as Kim had thought to get back to the village and for that she was glad. Her legs were far from happy with her already. When they reached the Inn, Kim had practically shoved Jim right into the bathroom, stating that he needed to clean up and warm up, the two things a hot shower was really good for, before setting up some food for him and digging a green jacket out of her bag. It was one of Jim's that had accidentally got stuffed into her bags when she'd been packing for London. It seemed really weird that it was ever in her room or that she didn't notice it, but she was glad to have it now.

Even then, she'd waited a good five minutes to back to pull herself together before calling Wade. Her anger at what she'd seen had been bad enough, but her brother had nearly left her in a broken mess. Jim wasn't acting like himself in the slightest. She knew that would be the case on the way, but to see it and for him to be so different, it had shaken her to the core.

It had only gotten worse on the way back to the village. It had taken a little coaxing, but she'd managed to get his entire story from him as they walked. His fear and panic, all the blackouts, the screams that resonated through his head, the voices that had been constantly attacking his mind and the waves of fear and guilt, it amazing he hadn't snapped yet. If the Long family and Sun Park hadn't reached him when they did, he probably would have by now.

Then of course, he demanded to know everything that resulted from the attacks he couldn't remember. His reactions to that were heartbreaking all over again, tears falling from his eyes.

"_And-and what about Tim? And Aang, where are they?"_ He'd almost broke her mind in his maddening need to know the state of his twin and new friend. It was only some last minute breathing exercises that saved her from a life as a vegetable.

"_They ran off with a mutant boy, searching for you."_ It was an answer that had mixed results with Jim. He had been relieved that they hadn't been hurt by any attack, but at the same time, knowing that they were wondering aimlessly just to find him? That was really something to worry about, especially when he asked for details about the new mutant member. Kim almost lied before caving and hesitantly admitting that he was only about Jim and Tim's age too and that his name was Jamie. It was all she knew and it wasn't exactly comforting information.

After all that, could anyone blame her for just wanting to pass out in a comfy bed?

It wasn't long after that that the bathroom door opened to reveal a clean, much calmer Jim. The tear stains that had decorated his cheeks and the constant shivering were gone and his skin looked a much healthier, flushed with heat. Only his solemn eyes ruined the image of a perfectly fine teenage boy.

"Feel free to eat as much as you want." Kim called tiredly, randomly throwing her hand out to the dining table. "Then you really get into bed and go to sleep."

"What do you intend to do tomorrow?" Jim asked, sounding almost as drained as she was as he made a beeline for the food, his stomach growling. Still, even as he reached the table and filled his belly, his eyes never strayed from Kim, a look of silent desperation planted right over it.

"Wade's trying to determine where the Phoenix' prisoners may be." Kim started, her voice muffled by her pillow as she dropped her head and couldn't find the will to lift it again. "And he's searching for anyone capable and willing to help with this Phoenix problem. While he's doing that, we'll get a ride back into the USA and track down Tim."

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that that was what Jim was hoping for. Though Kim couldn't see as his eyes lit up and a smile grew on his face, the thrilled whoop that left his lips met her ears loud and clear, bringing a large grin to her own face. It looked like her real brother was still in there after all.

_Yeah._ She thought to herself, both relieved and a little disgusted as the sounds of her brother noisily stuffing his face, just the way he used to back home. _He's still in there alright._

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Honestly, this wasn't supposed to be where this chapter ended, but it's so long already that I had to split it. So tune in next time fans. The next part's even bigger than this one.


	13. Chapter 13

**Beware Magnus**

The sun had barely risen, but Dr Drakken was still hard at work, slave driving his men through their duties. The only ones free were the ones caring for the group Kim took down and their breaks were cut. Despite all that Shego had pointed out, the fact remained that they still had two dangerous Possibles in the area and therefore they needed their security system online ASAP!

Not that he was worrying about lasers, trap doors or electronic shackles like he used to. After all, with a giant firebird, they'd all be a complete waste of time. No, what he was working on was supplying power to his latest piece of security: a series of holographic projectors surrounding the old fortress. When they came online, the already almost impossible to find, unmapped fortress would look like nothing more than an unstable pile of rubble. No one would ever want to come close and they'd be safe.

"Let's keep this moving people, the sun's coming up and so is our deadline." Drakken barked as he walked back and forth, check and double checking every wire connection and cord placement. His men barely even bothered responding, merely groaning out acknowledgements. With the exception of one of course.

"Dr D, you might actually wanna give them time to rest." Shego suggested, her usual cockiness completely gone as she pointed up at a particularly beefy minion. Confused and irritable as anyone else from the sleep deprivation, he whipped around to see what she was worried about to find the guy almost falling asleep on the power drill he was sluggishly aiming at a wall. "They're too tired to stay steady and focused. With that stuff, they could cause this area to collapse."

"Ggrrr, fine!" Dr D grumbled as he rubbed his own eyes. In all honesty, he could use a breather himself. "Everyone! Take a break and rest. You've got one and a half hours!" The effect was immediate. Every single worker dropped whatever they were working with and then simply dropped to the closest empty piece of floor and curled up. None of them could be bothered wasting time finding the far off bunks set up and most were sleeping within minutes.

"You don't think that they'll need a bit more than that?" Shego raised an eyebrow as Drakken sunk into his comfy chair and set the alarm of his watch. He'd be out soon too. "They've been working for almost a full twenty four hours."

"There will be plenty of time for extra sleep when we've e...ensured our safety." Drakken yawned, closing his eyes. "Besides, it's better if the men are out of the way when Magneto shows up. He doesn't like humans and few of our minions are mutants."

"Wait, metal head's coming here?" Shego asked, thrown for a loop and visibly annoyed about it. "When? Why?"

"Soon Shego, soon." Drakken mumbled, already nodding off. "His hideout...we're using. Wants to see...progress..." And with that, he was out, already starting to snore.

Shaking her head at the sheer stupidity of letting oneself get that exhausted and the apparent lack of information, Shego just walked off. She had a bed calling her and she was going to spend at least eight hours in it. Someone else could deal with watching security, she got her sleep or there would be consequences.

...

Drakken's paranoia was actually proven all for naught at the town Inn. Whereas the newest member to Magneto's allies had his men working nonstop, the Possible siblings were quite content to sleep in. It wasn't like either of them had had many long, peaceful sleeps lately, what with the fear and stress running through them.

Jim in particular was quite content to stay where he was, wrapped in the gentle embrace of his sister as he snuggled into the pillows and blankets. How could he not? The Phoenix was calm, his sister had found him, he'd gotten everything off of his chest, his telepathy was still under control, even if it was a shaky grip, and he was going to find his brother. It left him feeling pretty good, much more so than he'd thought he'd ever feel again before Sun helped him calm his mind. Which reminded him that it was only a matter of time before all of the Phoenix' 'victims' would be back and free too. As long as the Phoenix didn't go raging again, everything would actually work itself out. Eventually. He could wait.

It wasn't until eleven that he finally forced himself out of an embrace he would have been horrified to find himself in not even a week ago, and even then he was pretty reluctant. Simply put, the only reason he was getting up was because Kim's Kimmunicator would not. Shut. UP! It was get driven to death while Kim slept on or take it and say hi.

"Wade, we're asleepin." He slurred, rubbing his eyes as Wade appeared onscreen.

"Hey I should be the one in bed. Do you have any idea how late it is in America?" Wade asked, raising an eyebrow. Opening his eyes properly, Jim did notice that Wade looked pretty drowsy himself. It wasn't until a few seconds past before the young mutant remembered where he was and the time difference. Finally waking up properly, he let an apologetic look grace his face.

"Sorry Wade. Half asleep." He replied as he forced his way to the fridge and grabbed some milk, the only liquid Kim had been confident buying. She couldn't tell if most drinks around here were soda or alcohol. "What's up?"

"I thought you guys would wanna know that I got you a ride back to the states. Mr Owen will arrive this afternoon...well, your afternoon." He corrected as Jim nodded. "You'll have to sky dive to the ground though, otherwise you'll get discovered when he lands."

"Sounds good to me." Jim grinned before taking a big gulp from his glass. He liked sky diving, though Kim almost never took him. Said he and Tim were too wild and dangerous to her and Ron's lives on the ground, forget the sky.

"I thought you'd approve." Wade grinned broadly. Though it only lasted a moment before a concerned and hesitant look replaced it, confusing Jim a little. It looked like he wanted to say something, but was afraid how it'd be taken. Still, it only took Wade a moment to gather up the courage. "So, how have you been? Kim says that you're both coming along and in stress and guilt overload. How are you now?"

"Better." Jim answered after a few seconds, summing everything up himself before saying anything. "I think Sun Park's ability is lingering a little on the Phoenix. It's not nearly as...fierce as it usually is right now. In fact, while I was with them, it actually felt affectionate." He added, surprising Wade quite a bit as a flash of awe and incredulousness crossed the Possible boy's face before pressing on. "Meditation's calmed my telepathy down and between Kim's reassurances and getting everything off my chest...I don't know, it just seems like some of the world's weight was taken off my shoulders. Enough so that I can think straight and stop panicking at least."

"Well, that's definitely a good start." Wade smiled. "And speaking of the Phoenix, I managed to find someone who might be able to help us a little. Since you claimed it was a mystical creature, I'm tracking down a woman by the name of Agatha Harkness. She's a powerful witch, centuries old, and knows just about everything there is to know about magic. If anyone can help you, she can."

"You sure you can find her?" Jim asked a little sceptically. Even he'd heard of Agatha Harkness. Just rumours mostly in recent times, but he knew she had history dating back to the Salem witch trials. She was almost impossible to track down.

"Hey, you know my record." Wade grinned, getting one in return. It was true, Wade always seemed to find a way to do the impossible. Probably figured out how while he was wiring the world, as Ron put it. "Besides, even if I fail, I've still managed to pull up a fair share of what looks like magic hotspots. There are plenty of mystical wonders out there that could possibly help."

"We'll leave that in your capable hands then." A sigh called from behind him, causing Jim to turn around. It looked like Kim had been listening to at least some of the conversation. "We're going to focus on tracking down Tim and preventing another fiery crusade around the globe."

"Fine with me, but if you don't mind, my capable mind needs sleep." Wade smile tiredly, not quite succeeding in fighting down a yawn. "I'll work more in the morning. Good luck with your parts and I'll see you later."

"Later Wade." They said simultaneously before turning to smile at each other as the screen went blank, Kim's being one of drowsy amusement and Jim's being cheeky, brightening Kim's even more. He really did mean it, his whole time with the Longs and Kim had really helped him feel more like himself again, even if he was still a bit shaken and scared by it all.

"Ok, I'm taking a turn in the bathroom, then we'll go wait for our ride." Kim said, ruffling Jim's hair affectionately before grabbing her tooth brush and a change of clothes.

"Ok, that'll give me _plenty_ of time to meditate." Jim responded mischievously, only for Kim to roll her eyes and hit him with her jacket as she walked by him. Snickering as the door closed, he grabbed his own jacket and smiled as he slipped his arms into it. He couldn't remember the last time he went so long without wearing any green. It was just...his colour. Tim had red, he had green. That was how it worked.

Snickering again as the shower started and Kim began singing her talent show song, Jim dropped himself onto the floor and started meditating. He was serious after all. He needed to do it often. He'd already realised the pattern. Meditating shut down his telepathy, but as he continued to feel and think afterward, his ability would slowly resurface. After all, he was new to his power and meditation was only the first step to controlling it, the beginning foundation.

It was the last thing he let himself think about before he moved to calm and empty his mind. He really needed to find another telepath soon.

...

Magneto wasn't sure whether to smirk in amusement or shake his head as he stared down from the sky at one of his lesser used, but very secret hideouts. Staring down at it for a few more moments, he simply decided to do both.

Dr Drakken's impatience was shining through on this one. He had to admit that the blue skinned man was scientifically brilliant, but his impatience and childish theatrics definitely spoiled a lot of his work. In this case, he had had the brilliant idea to surround the place with holographic projectors set to look like there was a rockslide that buried the fortress. Few people knew about its existence and the hologram would keep the few who did away. That was a smart move. However, activating the hologram when only half the devices were operating was not. Anyone walking the trail directly to the fortress would see a pile of loose rocks, but anyone who managed to find the gaps in the rocks and paths above or had a keen eye from an aircraft would still see the fortress. They'd have to know it was there already or be extremely thorough, but it was still possible and would draw more attention to the place than if there were no holograms on at all.

_Why would he feel the need to activate the holograms at all?_ He frowned as the silliness of what he saw finally began to recede. It was a troubling question that had to result from a blunder of some kind. After all, few outside the nearby town even knew that the fortress existed. It was one of the many structures forgotten through time, even the town didn't think much of it. There wasn't any trail to lead follow Drakken to this place either, not that it mattered much anyway. He'd been quiet for so long after accepting his award for helping save the planet from that alien invasion that even the clowns at Global Justice weren't putting much effort into monitoring him anymore and S.H.I.E.L.D. never considered him to be any more than a minor nuisance. So the question was who could have come so close that Drakken felt that his location could possibly need _more_ protection so desperately?

_Only one way to find out I suppose._ With that, he headed down, sparing the defences set up only enough attention to ensure that they all fell or pointed harmlessly away from him as he landed and walked up to the door and entered without any trouble at all.

He couldn't quite hold back the scowl crossing his face as he entered though. Humans were scattered all over the place, sluggishly connecting wires and double checking calculations on wire lengths and passages for them through the structure. Though, he had to admit that he got a fair bit of pleasure from seeing that none of them were willing to look at him. They were all struggling, and failing, to stop themselves from shaking in fear.

Those who would join their kind when Dr Drakken was done would lose it in time and the rest would either be dead or out of his way. Until then, the fear worked for him.

"How much longer is getting the projectors all powered up going to take?" Speaking of the doctor, he had to be close. His voice trailed right down the echoing corridor, informing all of his panic induced irritation and inducing sighs from the bulk of his minions. Magneto didn't even make a twitch as he levitated himself into the main room to find the scientist staring up at his head henchman.

"With most men working on supplying them power and so long as there are no accidents, approximately one hour and twenty three minutes." Was the man's calm response. "However, this means that getting all other systems set up and operational, including the cooling system for your new device, have all come to a standstill."

"I am aware of that. Just sure that there are no accidents!" Drakken ordered. "You all got a nap, now make it worth it."

"Yes sir." The man stated before walking away, giving Magneto a respectable nod on the way out. The magnetic mutant had to admit that he liked that one. Respectful, reliable without prejudice and far from moronic. If all of the humans were more like him, well, Magneto very well might have never left Xavier's institute and fought for his old friend's dream. As it was however, he could only hope that his X gene was developed enough for them to advance into a mutant ability for him.

"I see you aren't as...mellow as I thought you would be in this place Dr Drakken." He said mildly as the door closed, allowing privacy for the two. "Which is strange, because I set you up here because you were almost guaranteed to be left alone."

"Yes, well all plans have unforeseen circumstances appearing at one point or another." Drakken sighed tiredly as he took a seat. It was clear that he was just as exhausted as his men.

"So what has happened? Did something explode or cause an actual rockslide?" Magneto asked, resting comfortably in another seat as he drew it to him from the security screens.

"No." Drakken sighed, his lethargy being replaced with a bit of embarrassment. "We discovered that one of the Possible kids was nearby. The fire mutant one making the news worldwide. And he has drawn his sister, Kim Possible, to the area too."

"You are panicking simply because two children are in the area?" Magneto raised an eyebrow. That was a bit overkill. Oh, he knew about them of course. Kim Possible was a mutant Xavier had approached only for his offer of training to be declined. She didn't need it, her abilities required no practice to control. In fact, they made it so that she didn't need much training in anything she wanted to do, if any at all. A fact that had made her into quite the tough opponent and a valuable ally. Magneto would have approached her himself and persuaded her to join his forces if it wasn't for the fact that she was just far too heroic. Her definition of saving the world was to save everyone in it. She'd make a perfect X Man. He also knew of her history with Drakken. However, they had left each other be ever since the alien invasion, and her presence here, when Drakken hadn't even done anything yet, was hardly an issue.

The boy was a little more of a concern, he had to admit. He was furious at the child for the attack on his old friend and the Institute, but he was willing to look past it. Unlike most, he had connected the dots in stories surrounding the boy and the areas he had been residing in and was confident that the boy was also a budding telepath. The fight in New York connected far too well with comments about a school fight starting with mind reading accusations. A fact that only made him more dangerous as all his previous and future actions could very well be the result of panic. Either way, he was powerful and destructive, a very real threat to all who oppose him. However, inside the fortress, Drakken and his minion would be perfectly safe, their presence undiscovered and far from where the next explosion may come from. Unless...

"You approached one of them, didn't you?" His sigh reverberated all around the room. He could not think of a single reason _why_ they would do such a thing, but it was the only logical explanation to his concerns now.

"Upon discovering the boy, the first to arrive, we panicked." Drakken admitted sullenly, staring down at the floor like an ashamed child. "We sent a group of men to wait until he was asleep and then safely get him out of the area. However, Kim Possible showed up just as they were extracting him from his hidey hole and attacked."

"She assumed it was a more sinister move." Magneto nodded, resisting the urge to sigh again. He guessed it all made sense. A panicking man will always act rashly and a person seeing their sibling in what looks like danger will always expect the worst scenario.

"We knew she'd come." Drakken stated, not moving from his position at all. "Even if the boy didn't find us and attack, Kim Possible would follow him here eventually and the longer she was around, the more likely she was to find this place. If that happened, all our actions would be reported to Global Justice and preparing ourselves for the war would become impossible. And then of course, there is still if the boy did attack. He wouldn't even have to know we were here, just attack the general area. If he did, he could easily bury this place or draw too much unwanted attention to it. The best plan we could come up with was to get him out of here as soon as possible."

"The best plan would have been to leave him be." Magneto stated matter-of-factly. "His pattern is well defined. Yes, he would have caused a little destruction around here, but then he would have left and Kim Possible would have followed, most likely without ever touching this place. Now however, we will have to do something. 'Attempting to take the life of Jim Possible' will not sit well with them. They will no doubt come for you eventually and if I am right, they will find you no matter how many ways you hide yourself."

"What? How?" Drakken cried, paling considerably as he finally looked up.

"There have been plenty of signs of telepathy around this boy. He truly is a unique mutant, to have so many different abilities." Magneto explained, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he mulled it over. After all, the boy had flight, fire and telepathy. Few mutants even had two abilities and in most cases, the two powers were had common ground and a lot of similarities in their natures, such as telepathy and telekinesis. Then there was the fact that the fire always took the shape of a bird. Admittedly that sounded as familiar as it was intriguing.

"T-t-t-t-telep...athy!" For a moment, Magneto could have sworn that he had broken the suddenly flowery scientist. The flower petals adorning his head looked as dark as night in comparison to the face they circled. It only took a few more seconds before Drakken was hyperventilating. "We've got to resolve this now! We...we have to ensure that they know that we meant no real harm. If the boy's newfound murderous rage doesn't kill us all, he will crush our minds into dust! Or Kim Possible will come here and blow up everything, like she did with all of my secret lairs and-"

"Calm yourself." Magneto interrupted, raising his hand with a silencing gesture. "I shall assist in this. The children have no grudge with me and my helmet shields me from all mental abilities. In addition, I am a high evolutionary. I doubt a mere child new to his powers is stronger than me."

"Oh, thank you Magneto." The relief Drakken felt at that moment was well defined as he sighed and sank back into his seat again, looking up to his new partner in open admiration and gratitude.

"It is fine. Now, on to other business." Magneto brushed it off before leaning forward, pressing his fingers together. "How has progress on your end coming along?"

"The ray is ready for small, beginning testing." Drakken started, albeit a little hesitantly. "I am just waiting until the cooling system is online before reactivating and charging it. But of course, as it is now, its programming is crude. It should alter genes, but without knowing exactly how I need to alter the X gene, this device will just do it randomly and will probably just cause a lot of cancer or cause death through ripping apart the DNA pattern."

"As expected. But do not fear, another associate is working quickly through the DNA and genetic codes of humans and mutants alike and assures me that she is getting close to determining the kind of advancements and parameters we need to make. Along with constantly stating that if we want, we can already create a number of beast-men that would settle quite comfortably as feral type mutants within our ranks." Magneto added amusedly as Dr Drakken shivered and scowled. DN Amy was still apparently a bit of a soft spot for him.

"That will still leave trying to figure out who's X gene is naturally developed enough to successfully alter." Drakken informed him as the first noticeable piece of doubt over the plan graced his face. "There's also the fact that the gene may have to have developed in a specific way for this machine to work. If we don't know the parameters of the dormant genes of those we alter, we may simply kill the person again, or give them an unstable ability with unknown repercussions to them and those around them."

"Some information always has to come from trial and error." Magneto said nonchalantly, ignoring just how uncomfortable Drakken had become. It was funny how this man had once strived to take over the world. For all his attempts to wipe out his enemies, for all the destruction he caused, he didn't actually have it in him to kill. Even when he left Kim to her doom, he could never watch it happen and often seemed to deliberately overlook details that could save her and her team from what Magneto had dug up. It was a fact that made Magneto cautious and watchful of the man's actions. Not being able to stomach even indirectly helping to kill, accidentally or otherwise, had a tendency to cause some loyalty based issues in these particular kinds of plans. Chances were that when the machine was ready to begin, he would have to start this without Drakken's assistance.

"What of your other projects?" Magneto asked curiously, deciding it was best to move on. "I assume that you have been monitoring their production?"

"Yes, I have been getting frequent updates." Dr Drakken nodded, looking more than a little glad at the new topic. "The syntho-drones project has already developed twenty, perfectly human-looking drones, all of them having beyond average human strength and capable of unleashing electric currents into whoever they touch, in addition to the other advantages that come with their form. As for the Bebe robots, they are currently being produced in a factory in Brazil, but none of them are operational yet. I don't know how to fix their artificial intelligence programs. If programmed with it and activated, they will grow out of control."

"As long as their hardware is all fully functional, that is fine. There is still time before the war arrives, plenty of time for us to use trying to fix the faulty programming or find someone who can."

That released a lot of stress from the scientist. He had been worried about how Magneto would take such issues. The syntho-drones were one thing, Drakken had made the time it took just to make one clear from the start. The Bebe robots programming however, hadn't even been mentioned beyond saying that it would require updating. He had been worried that the lack of progress on that front would irritate Magneto and allies or not, irritating a being like Magneto could be a very risky move.

"Now, let us move on to the resolving our newest conflict." Magneto declared, already rising and walking toward the door, Dr Drakken moving hastily to keep up. "After all, this comes with an extra benefit."

"Huh? What kind of extra benefit?" Drakken asked, looking completely lost.

"Open dialogue with one of the most powerful mutant alive and one of the most influential mutants alive." Was Magneto's response, a small smirk growing on his face. Those were benefits that more than made up for any issue that may have occurred. If the world was to find out that Kim Possible was a mutant, she would be able to influence countless mutants to his advantage, be a beacon he could use to unite their brethren like none he had ever met. That kind of power rivalled even her brother's in worth. Maybe even exceeded it.

Then there was the boy. Drakken was right; he would one day make an amazing ally. With the combination of abilities Magneto believed him to possess, there was little that he could not do and precious few that had a chance of standing up to him. And in his current state of clearly out of control abilities and the desperation he'd feel with a horrific debacle, he was in the perfect condition to influence towards Magneto's way of thinking. Especially when his little rampages were causing the humans to act aggressively not only to him, but his brother as well.

Yes, this could work out better than he'd ever imagined.

...

By the time their plane was due to arrive, Jim was quite keen to leave. Not because he didn't like the place or anything, everyone was nice and friendly even with the frustration of lost translation. It was just that on the plane, Kim had no place to shop.

Knowing that they couldn't exactly go home for his stuff with who knew how many different groups were after him, Kim had taken him straight to the stores after eating to get him some clothes and a backpack. And of course, ended up checking out about fifty different things and places for herself, all the while gushing over how cute it was or whatever. If was enough to have him wanting to bash his head against the wall.

"So where exactly is the plane going to land?" Jim asked persistently as they headed down the main road. There wasn't exactly an airport nearby.

"Along the road just outside of town." Kim answered, shifting a few of her bags. Girls and exotic clothes. There was no way she was going home empty handed. It wasn't a minute later that they reached the last of the larger buildings, a loud, strong win began to blow and Kim looked up with a smile. "There we go!"

Reaching up so that the wind wouldn't blow away his hat as the plane landed, Jim couldn't help but stare in awe at the sight of it. It was much bigger than he'd thought it would be. But then, they were going to need a big fuel tank to cross an ocean and Kim had friends reaching all the way up to the richest and most famous people in the world and all of them were happy to return favours after what Kim had done for them. Still, this one definitely was more high tech than any conventional plane. Wade must have called in a favour from someone amongst Kim's high level scientific or mechanic engineer associates. The kind with one hell of a funding.

"Now that is impressive." Jim said gleefully as he stared at it up and down. He was so wrapped up in his own excitement that he didn't notice Kim's smile disappearing. "Whoever's cashing in this favour must be on par with Dad in designing and budget."

"Jim, stay back!" Kim snapped as Jim headed for it. He stopped immediately and turned worriedly back to Kim. He didn't need his telepathy to know something was horribly wrong. The tone of Kim's voice and the way everything she was holding dropped with an uncaring thump was more than enough warning, to say nothing of the way she forced him back and stood before her defensively.

"Kim?"

"There's no way Wade would have gone to them." She stated, making Jim's breathing hitch as she glared at the plane. Shaking and nervous, Jim couldn't prevent his telepathy from slipping from his control again. It was just enough to feel the emotions of those around him, but it was more than enough to confirm his fears. Kim's list of contacts even went as far as secret agencies and organisations that worked in the shadows. Still, with a case like the Phoenix, only one of them would come and face him themselves and while they were the good guys in general, they were currently no friend of Jim's. Global Justice saw him as a threat and terrorist that had to be taken down. Knowledge that was more than backed up by the fierceness and determination of the minds of every person on that plane.

Feelings that became even more pronounced as a group of ten men and women leapt out of the doorway the second it was slammed open, all of them aiming weapons at the Possible siblings. They were especially noticeable in the young man positioning himself slightly ahead of the others, ensuring that all knew that he was in charge. He was about Kim's age with dark hair, olive skin and an air of arrogance that was impossible to miss for even the most dense of people. At the sight of him, Kim somehow actually managed to tense even more.

"What are you doing here Will?" She snapped, glaring hard. As she spoke, Jim's telepathy gave him an instant answer to any questions he had on the guy as it wildly tapped into the memories flickering through Kim's mind.

Will was a top agent at Global Justice and extremely arrogant from the get go. He frequently insulted Kim's intellect and abilities when they met and was horrid to anyone he felt was beneath him. Even when Kim came up with every accurate theory and productive action, he still only saw her as an assistant to him at best.

"It is Agent Du, Kim Possible." Will stated coolly as he looked down his nose at them distastefully. "And we are here for the same reason as you. You will hand over the terrorist at once."

"I will not hand _my brother_ over to you at all!" Kim snapped furiously, her glare trying to burn holes right through Will's head. "He is not to blame for what's happened!"

"Says you against the evidence that is every sighting and the simple fact that he is here!" Will retorted smugly. "The firebird comes from his body and kills and destroys wherever he goes. And he appears wherever the firebird disappears. Even you know this, you used the firebird to track him."

"You hacked into my communications!" Kim shouted, kicking herself at the realisation and damning Global Justice to Hell. They used her to get at her brother! They knew she'd find him and lead them straight to him. Then they intercepted their ride and caught them at the meeting point, when their guard would be down long enough to capture them.

"You truly are a great assistance to my missions." Will smirked, the smug look never leaving his expression as Kim's turned red.

"Like you're capable of doing anything yourself!" Kim snapped harshly. Will However, was completely unphased.

"I am more than capable. Now, as you have helped our organisation and the world multiple times, I will ask you one last time to hand him over before I take you in too for harbouring and protecting a major terrorist."

"I told you, he's not a TERRORIST!" Kim screamed, moving both herself and Jim back. In a moment, they were going to need a lot of space between them and the agents. "He's possessed! His mutant ability is telepathy. The fire comes from a mystic creature that settled inside him! And he can't control either. So stop and think, I'm trying to keep you lot and him safe at the same time."

"Even if that drivel was true, we still cannot allow him to walk free and destroy all he wishes." Will stated with a snarl as he raised his hand. "Take them both!"

"NO!" Jim's cry was completely ignored as the other nine agents all went into action. Two immediately fired wrist-mounted tasers their way only for Kim to push Jim one way and roll the other, both of them avoiding the electrical stunners. Instantly back on her feet, Kim watched intently for a full second. Her mimicry ability came with a bonus she had only recently taken into account. By watching people, she could not only instantly learn how to do what she saw, but by watching someone's actions, she could use the knowledge to accurately predict what they were planning on doing before they did it. A few glances at her enemy here and there and she could use the knowledge and skills she'd picked up from them to determine every similar move they could make, their subtle actions of preparation acting like giant, neon sign to her. Once that second was over, she only had to rely on old knowledge and skills to dodge the net and sedative fired her way before their standard training and group methods began turning against them. They all moved similarly, as group agents were trained to, meaning that watching all their actions for a few seconds gave her just about everything she needed on the group's way of operating. Combined that with all the skills that her mimicry had added to her arsenal, she found it easy to dodge all other attempts. Within seconds, she'd weaved through two more tasers, twisted around a baton and grabbed one guy's arm between her legs as he tried to punch her arched body, freaking the guy out with just how snake-like her twisting body was looking, and used it to send him crashing to the ground as she flipped. His landing had another benefit to her too, his bulky form coming down instantly causing a bit of panic and forcing the other agents to break the formation that they'd so desperately stuck to since the beginning.

Jim however, wasn't having as much success. Will was coming right at him and it was only due to Kim noticing and sending his agents falling into his way that had left the boy out of Will's hands for so long.

Jim hadn't even moved from where Kim had shoved him. His head had made that impossible. With all the intensity of others and their panic embracing his own, nothing he did could calm him down. It was taking every single trick he'd managed to learn just to limit his telepathy from delving any deeper. He tried focusing on just one mind, but they were all so similar at that point that he couldn't discern one from the others with delving further and couldn't risk that. That could risk damaging their minds. Damaging Kim's mind.

'_Mission accomplished'_ Gasping as the triumphant thought overrode all others, Jim snapped his scared eyes open to find Will right before him, already aiming his stopwatch

"NO! YOU'LL KILL US ALL!" Kim yelled, freezing in place after spin kicking a woman to the ground left her staring across the battle field only to scream in pain as another guy tackled her to the ground from behind. Will ignored her warning completely.

"AAAAHHHH!" A potentially fatal error. The threat of pain doubled the boy's fear and his feeble control completely snapped. Within an instant, his telepathy drilled forcefully into every mind within his range.

"AARRRGGGHHHH!" Pain-filled screams filled the air as Kim and every agent hit the ground, their hands clasp over their heads and writhing in agony. Two of them were completely unable to take it and passed out within a minute. They were the lucky ones.

Jim's own scream's joined the chorus as thoughts and memories flooded his mind. Images of training and missions, information that anyone dealing with the smallest of the shifty side of mankind would kill for, rather sensual moments that he shouldn't have been exposed to for a few more years, memories of himself through his sister's eyes, viewing him as an enormous irritation. And all through it, pain. He was subjected to every bit of pain that he was causing, completely unable to shield himself from it. And to make it worse, through him, everyone in his range was once again connected, allowing them all to feel their agony magnified as he only continued to rip through their minds, completely unable to stop. It was with no small amount of horror that he realised that by the time he was done, their minds would be beyond repair and that horror only made it worse.

He had no idea how long it went on for. It could have been seconds or hours, Jim had completely lost all sense of time. Memories, thoughts and feelings kept randomly crashing into his mind and the pain was killing his head. Curled up and clasping his head, he barely even remembered to breathe and that was the only thing even remotely connected to the physical world that he was still conscious of. He didn't even notice when another man walked into his telepathic range. Never noticed that memories of a certain blue, mad scientist and a green and black clad woman had a different feeling to them from those of Kim's. And he definitely didn't notice the second presence to enter the area at all. That is, until he gently shook him.

Opening miserable eyes, Jim felt all the air leave his body as looked up at the red tinted shadow looming over him. It was a form that none could mistake. The cape and helmet created a very recognisable silhouette.

"Magneto?" He forced out, his voice scratchy. It surprised him a little, he must have been screaming just as much as everyone else. He hadn't noticed it at all. Still, that was nothing in comparison to the shock of seeing one of the most powerful and well-known mutants in the world standing before him, let alone everything else. "How are you- argh!" Before he could finish so much as a sentence, the tornado of thoughts, feelings and memories struck hard again, pulling him back to the centre of it all.

"Focus son." Magneto said soothingly as he pulled Jim into a sitting position. Gently taking him by the chin, he directed Jim's face so that he was staring right back into his own. "If you wish for this pain to end, then you must listen to me. Can you do that?"

"I...I think..." Stuttering, Jim forced his eyes open again and focused as hard as he could on Magneto, only to gape at...the complete nothingness that came from him. As far as his telepathy was concerned, Magneto wasn't even there.

And luckily for him, that worked in his favour. Practicing the method Haley had suggested, focusing solely on one mind's thoughts and feelings, he altered it to focus solely on the single man taking up his entire field of vision. It didn't stop the tirade going through him by any means, however, just as focusing solely on Haley's mind had, it did help to dim the sensations a little. Just not as much.

"Good." Magneto said softly, but strong enough to make it over the screams, letting a little pride show through his face as he prepared himself for the next part. "Now listen closely. In a few seconds, I am going to remove my helmet. When I do, you have to take it and put it on as quickly as you can."

"What?" Jim frowned, staring up at him confusedly.

"My helmet blocks all mental invasion." Magneto explained. "While it's on my head, it shields me from your power. However, if you wear it, it will block your power completely. you will fail to touch anyone's mind. But you must be fast." He added quickly, his tone growing much more serious. "The second I remove it, my mind will be added to the collective that you've created. Another mind, a significantly older one, that could easily have you overwhelmed again. Ready?"

"Right...ready." Jim nodded, bracing himself as best he could for the increasing storm blowing through their minds.

"Then...now!" With that, Magneto ripped the helmet off his head and instantly flinched, his whole body tensing as he struggled against the mental tidal wave crashing down on him. He could resist better than most, having years of practice with Charles, but he wouldn't last long with so much coming from so many different minds.

Fortunately, he didn't need to. Still focusing as hard as he could on Magneto, Jim instantly noticed the way he worked his mind to resist the psychic invasion and immediately tried to duplicate it. He wasn't nearly as good at it, but it definitely helped, a fact that everyone noticed as the pain in their minds lessened and the flow of memories and emotions slowed. Jim even managed to pull his power back enough that everyone else's minds were separated again, only projecting to his own and lessening every negative sensation for everyone even more before he shoved the helmet on his head and everything came to an instant stop.

With the attack completely ended, the screams that filled the air were immediately replaced with sighs and deep breathing all around as everyone finally let their bodies relax and tried to recover their mental conditions. Three more of Global Justice's agents had passed out, but from what could be seen, the others were conscious and while they were groaning and shaking, Jim was pretty sure that their minds were still intact. Shaken and currently vulnerable, but intact.

Finally free himself, Jim simply sighed and crashed back down into the ground. His mind was completely overloaded and he had a migraine at both temples. Nothing was processing, not that that surprised him. He was mentally and emotionally exhausted, gaining years of memories and more knowledge than he knew existed in mere minutes. It was amazing that he hadn't passed out or broken his own mind. Or unleashed the Phoenix stewing away just below the surface of his consciousness.

Others however, were much more stubborn. Within a minute, Will and four of his men were already climbing back onto their feet. Though his men weren't looking so calm now, all of them barely able to prevent from breaking down, Will was glaring at those before him venomously. Feeling the eyes on him, Jim peeked through his and almost shivered at the look coming at him. It promised suffering.

"So, you are in league with Magneto too! And you deemed yourself fit to torture our minds! When I'm done with you, you'll never see the light of day again, you despicable mutant freak!"

"I _warned_ you that his telepathy was out of control!" Kim screeched, the tears falling down her face as she forced herself to her feet doing nothing to lessen the look of pure loathing as she glared at him. "Who in their right mind stresses out a fledgling _telepath_? You _asked_ for this to happen and don't even try blaming him for what you caused!"

"Pay him no mind, my dear." Magneto interrupted before Will could say even one word, causing everyone to hiss and prepare for action as he rose back to his feet. "They are mere humans who could never understand or care about the struggles of our powers. Their words mean nothing to us."

"My words mean everything to everyone, terrorist freak!" Will snapped viciously. "I am a top agent of Global Justice! I-"

"Am an embarrassment!" Kim snapped in harshly, stomping her way right to him. "Overly arrogant, pathetic in battle, always jumping to the most obvious answer despite the fact that all evidence say it's obviously not the case, impatient as all hell, disrespectful to everyone 'below you', and I know that the Global Justice leaders would kick your ass if they heard the way you were talking about mutants! They declared that we be treated equally and has even made a point to bring more than a few into the organisation. If you're what passes for a top agent, then it's a wonder Global Justice is capable of cleaning their own boots!"

"Says the cheerleader who is only anything in this business because of mutant cheats!" Will barked back, closing the distance between them. "Without your 'oh so special' enhanced flexibility and mimicry, you're-"

"Still more than enough to take you down!" Will barely had time to react as Kim dropped into a sweep kick and failed to dodge miserably. Landing hard on his back, it was only a flight instinct that save his face from the quickly following axe kick, rolling as far away from the furious redhead as he could.

"Agent Du!" The other agents were quick to respond. Within an instant, all four of them were heading straight for Kim, foregoing any weapons they may have had for the hands on approach.

"Don't you dare!" Jim cried, surprising Magneto a little as he rushed into the fight, his mental drain completely forgotten. Quickly getting in between the agents and his sister's fight, he threw them off guard with a sliding kick that was only just barely dodged pulling himself into a backward somersault and onto his feet with grace of one well practiced in acrobatics. Not that it bothered the agents much though, they were keen to run in after him.

"Take one more step and the helmet comes off!" He threatened, immediately halting all four of them in place as his hands grabbed firmly onto either side of it. "Think about while you can. Do you really want to suffer the effects of wild, untrained telepathy again?"

"No we do not!" The cry actually startled all five involved. It didn't belong to anyone previously at the showdown and by the time Jim had recognised it, a vine had already wrapped tightly around the middle agent.

"WHA-AAH-ARGH!" Before he or any the others could react, the agent was ripped off the ground and swung hard straight into those on either side of him. The vine released him a second later, but he still got no reprieve as it did it with a hard toss.

"OOMMPPHH!" The resulting fall had him ploughing into the final agent and sent the sprawling in a tangled mess.

Jim wasn't watching however. He was too busy following the vine back to the man it grew out of. Standing just a little further down the road was none other than Dr Drakken. Daisy headed and all, Jim wasn't sure whether to be scared or laugh and he definitely couldn't stop the initial snort.

"Oh, don't laugh at me, bucket head." Drakken grunted moodily as he joined the rest of them. "I did just save you from another mental disaster and a guilt trip you'd never recover from after all. That would have caught your sister and Magneto too."

"Noted." Jim replied, peeking up at him with a curiously raised eyebrow. "So, you're not here to kill me?"

"I never wanted to. I just wanted you far enough away that you wouldn't destroy my new place." Drakken answered, scowling as the agents rose to their feet. Planting his feet firmly on the ground, he swung his torso around as hard as he could and released every petal from his head, right at them.

A few of the agents merely smirked at the sheer pathetic look of the attack, none of them bothering to do anything more than brush them away. A mistake that they realised too late as the petals crashed into them hard, sending them screaming their way back down to the hard ground.

"HA! Serves you right for underestimating flower power." Drakken cackled away, admiring his work. Jim had to admit that it was impressive. However, instead of getting excited like he usually would at the unusual, man-made ability, he just let himself sink down to the ground again and watch Kim's fight. His head was ready to give out as it was, he didn't need any more information crammed in. What he needed was a chance to unwind and calm down.

Jim would have assumed that Kim was just playing with Will if she wasn't so livid. She was letting him get in close and attack, simply choosing to deflect and block all of his attacks. He knew better though. This guy had always infuriated her and now he was calling for Jim's blood. She was intent in proving just how pathetic he was.

"Is this really the standard training results for all 'top agents'?" She taunted, mocking his snooty attitude as she effortlessly deflected another backhand. This time however, she took advantage of the huge opening in his defences and planted her fist firmly into his gut, knocking the wind right out of him before sending him flying back into the ground with a swift, brutal kick. "Pitiful. I could have ended this fight ten times already."

"And you think that I could not?" Will shouted hoarsely, charging in with a flying kick. Kim didn't so much as blink before effortlessly grabbing the offending foot and using Will's own momentum to spin him around and fling him face down back into the ground.

"Who are you trying to kid? I haven't even mimicked any new moves or patterns from you. They're all so ridiculously basic." Kim smirked down at Will as he spat dirt out of his mouth. "Do yourself a favour, get your team back on your jet and tell Dr Director that you failed. What the Hell, go ahead and tell her all of your assumptions too. She'll be on the next team to make contact herself and is a far better listener than you."

"I don't fail!" Will snarled, pulling himself into a crouch with an evil look pointed right at Kim as he pulled what looked like a remote out of his pocket. "And I won't be outdone by you and a bunch of criminals." With that he hit the big button.

A loud humming immediately reverberated throughout the area as the jet came to life. Within seconds it was hovering into the air and turning towards them, a series of weapons pulling out of hidden hatches and charging up quite noticeably.

However, all the weapons, along with Will's triumphant sneer, disappeared in an instant. The only warning of anything happening was another sound similar to vibration before each and every weapon dropped to the ground and split into the tiny, basic components of which they were made.

"Foolish child! Did you forget who I am?" All confidence disappeared as Magneto calmly floated into the air, his hand rising almost lazily as he waved it before the jet. Within seconds, chunks of the panelling were ripped off and sent flying at each agent, wrapping around their bodies tightly like a snake.

"OOFF!" Will was the last one struck and sent back to the ground. In his case, the metal even formed a nice ring around his mouth, effectively gagging him.

"Much better." Magneto smiled down, staring over his work as if he were watching mere bugs before dropping casually back down to the ground. "Now that the vermin are all incapacitated, perhaps we can finally get down to business."

"And what business is that?" Kim asked warily, quickly moving back to Jim's side and standing protectively in front of him once again, all while sending Drakken a death look that had him practically running away to hide behind Magneto's cape. "We've never had any interaction before, nothing in common and if you're in league with the guy who tried to eighty six my brother just last night, then we have nothing to talk about except my promise to have him and his helpers decorating a prison cell until they rot!"

"Oh, my dear, I assure you that you are very much mistaken." If anything, Magneto merely looked amused by the wary, challenging look he was being given. The added whimpers from behind him almost had him snorting, but he held it in. "For example, our reasons to fight are not very different. You fight to protect the world in general. A noble sentiment, though one that will only cause more strife for us. I fight for the protection and safety of others as well, just for a more specific group. However, we can discuss the differences in our beliefs of innocence later. First and foremost, I believe we should discuss the misunderstanding that occurred last night."

"What's there to discuss? _He_," Kim spat, turning another vile look at Drakken. "attacked while Jim was unable to defend himself. Over a cliff."

"But not to harm him!" Drakken cried, a desperate look crossing his face. "I was afraid, yes, I wanted him gone, but I only wanted him removed from the area before he destroyed my place or brought...you here. His powers are extremely destructive! He'll be a great ally later, but right now-"

"Ally? What makes you think that he'll be an ally of you two for anything?" Kim snapped, her nails drawing blood as she clenched her fists.

"War." Jim's voice was so low that she almost didn't hear it. Turning back to him, Kim almost freaked at the simple look of him. He looked pained, tired, pale and was shaking like crazy. Now that the adrenaline was gone, his body was once again falling victim to the exhausted and troubled state of his mind. His head was pounding, struggling to handle all the new information and settle from the mental and physical anguish he'd accidentally caused. As the source connector, he got more from the minds of others than anyone else by far and despite the meditation and coping lessons the dragons had given him, his was still the most fragile and vulnerable. He honestly wanted to pass out, but he was scared. Scared that his sister would come into more trouble while he was out of it.

And scared by just how close all the strife had brought the Phoenix to the surface of his mind. Scared that if he let his defences down even slightly, this place would be covered by scorch marks.

"What are you talking about Jim? What war?" Kim asked, flabbergasted, as she moved a supportive arm around his shoulders. He was grateful for it, his knees were beginning to give out on him as the new thoughts and memories struggled for his attention. The ones associated with this conversation in particular.

"Drakken and Magneto have been doing...something in preparation for a war between humans and mutants." Jim stated, looking up at the men's frowning faces, one nervous and other curious. "I don't know what exactly, a few reactivated projects and some DNA related stuff to better the mutants' chances of winning. They believe that it is inevitable and are determined to make mutants the survivors. At least, that's what I got from...Dr Drakken's mind I think. It'd have to be, I got almost nothing from Magneto's." Jim nodded slowly, with conviction.

"And his power is nothing short of amazing. When it starts, they will go after him and he could do wonders for our side. It would be stupid to try and kill him." Drakken added quickly, nodding with everything he and Jim had said.

"Please! Jim is anarchic and mischievous, but he is far from a killer. Even if a war does happen, which I doubt, Jim would never do what you wanted of him."

"Perhaps not kill, but when it happens, for I can assure you that it _will_, they will force him to defend himself." Magneto said firmly, his tone holding no room for argument. "Because of the power he has been displaying, they will come after him with very high numbers. The small team sent by Global Justice is an insult to a mutant of Jim's calibre and such a pathetic force will never be used against him again. As such, just by defending himself and those he cares about, he will have to defeat thousands and that alone will help our cause greatly. Even if he chooses not to fight right alongside us, though I had hoped he would, he will still be an ally and asset to the mutants. If what I heard slip from Dr Drakken's lips was incorrect." He added gravely, turning his attention to the no longer wholly there teenage boy. "When your telepathic attack struck Dr Drakken, the words 'the Phoenix' were mixed within the random cries."

"So I was right!" An agent suddenly shouted, struggling against his bonds as the group turned to his chalk white face. "That kn-n-n-n-knowledge was correct! Kim Possible had been telling the truth! You're possessed by a-a God-like creature of destruction from myth!"

That did it, suddenly all of the conscious agents, even Will, started struggling desperately, trying to roll themselves away from the boy concealing a demon. Annoyed by their cries and babbling, Magneto decided to help them and sent them all flying away, their screams amplifying the whole way, before turning back to Jim as Kim brought back her challenging glare and Drakken paled considerably as the knowledge and memories he saw of the Phoenix reappeared in his mind.

"How do you know about the Phoenix?" Kim asked suspiciously, ignoring everything and everyone else as she stared Magneto down. Even Wade couldn't pull up anything actually useful about the Phoenix. The best even he could find was old myths about a bird with powers of fire that resurrected itself. Nothing came close to the destructive description of the one inside Jim.

"The oldest and least translatable records still existing have associated a massive, fiery destruction with a bird. However, most of my knowledge on the matter comes from Charles Xavier. I assume you are both aware of the mutant Apocalypse?" He asked, immediately getting nods from the teens. There wasn't a man alive that didn't know that story. It was what had dramatically enhanced the tension and hostility of humans to mutants. Completely ignoring that it was mutants that stopped it. "The true extent and number of his various abilities is still unknown, however, he did have the power to see glimpses of the future. When Charles made telepathic contact with him, he saw a number of events. One of them was the rise of the most terrible of enemies. The all powerful Phoenix."

"Professor Xavier knew that the Phoenix was going to come and didn't warn us?" Kim cried, outraged. If they had known, be warned of the danger Jim was in...

"No, the vision showed Jean Grey, one of his X Men, being possessed and consumed by the monster. Jim's possession is an unexpected twist. I should have realised that this was the case when I first learned of the firebird causing destruction." Magneto sighed, turning to the boy sadly. "When I determined that you were a telepath, I assumed that the attacks were the response of the aggression and panic you felt and sensed from those around you and the travelling a result of the emotions lingering. Telepaths, particularly those new to their powers, tend to have unpredictable results with the ability and I chalked it all up to that. I should have known better."

"Ok, so then let's hit the real elephant in the room." Kim stated, making Jim grunt as her grip on him tightened almost painfully. "What do you intend to do now that you know this?"

"I do not know." Magneto sighed, staring down at the boy thoughtfully. "You don't have to worry about us hurting him though; I can assure you of that. Any attempt to harm him would risk unleashing the Phoenix and destroying us all. That being said, we cannot leave him free to be taken over and kill more innocent mutants either."

The group fell into silence then, save for Jim's whimpers and groans as his head pounded and Magneto gazed intensely down at him. It was more than enough to have him squirming.

"Wade was tracking down Agatha Hawkness and other mystically inclined people to try and help him." Kim said shortly, her protectiveness shining clear through once again.

"A wise move, but I doubt that they will be able to help much." Magneto nodded, though his doubt didn't diminish at all.

"The Longs and Sun Park, the people I was with in New York, were dragons. Magical creatures." Jim added softly and sadly. "They had no idea what could be done that didn't count as a fate worse than death. Not that they thought that any of those methods would contain the Phoenix anyway."

"Just as I thought." Magneto nodded. "In this case, you will have to stay close to me until this is resolved. I can keep you calm, safe and gather those who can help you while at the same time, keep the world safe from you."

"Anywhere he goes, I go." Kim butted in instantly, her glare not disappearing until Magneto nodded his consent. "And what makes you think you can do anything anyway."

"If any mutant has the power to hinder the Phoenix, it is me. Very few mutants even compare to me in power and I have the contacts and resources to help both to study the nature and possibilities to stop the Phoenix' threat and aid Jim. My main base of operations even houses a trained telepath already. With the only exception being Charles himself, who is unfortunately hospitalised right now, there is no one better to teach him to control his powers and calm his mind."

"Two things that allow the Phoenix to take over so much as it is. Hoosha." Jim nodded, turning to a distrustful Kim. "Kim, I be..."

And that's where it all went wrong. His eyes widening in horror, he did all he could and pushed Kim as far from him as he could and ran in the other direction. The familiar surge of violent, malicious power flooded his mind and body, blowing the helmet right off of his head as he screamed.

"JIM!"

"MOMMY!"

"NO!" They watched on in pure fear, for both themselves and the boy as the flames burst from him, creating a towering inferno. Both wide and narrowed eyes watched on helplessly as the boy within turned to them, revealing glowing eyes and a face warping into a look of cruelty and bloodlust before the flames instantly doubled in size and took on the familiar form of the most destructive creature ever to walk the Earth, complete with its signature bird screech.

A bone chilling laughter that would haunt Kim and Drakken's nightmares for months left Jim's mouth as he levitated into the air. The fear they had felt before doubled in an instant. Drakken was pale as a bed sheet and even Magneto was shaking like never before, an act he could not remember doing even once since World War Two. As for Kim, tears were pouring down her face.

If the scared, quiet and miserable Jim she'd seen the night before had scared her, then this had stopped her heart from beating. Surrounded by fire, the psychotic, maliciously gleeful look on his face and a laughter that promised an agonising death was like nothing she could ever imagine on any of her loved ones' and it was so horrible that she knew she would need therapy to have any hope of getting over this. And that was say nothing of the enormous, unsurpassed raw power towering over her. Not that she could see it, her brother's form was all that she could register.

"Jim! Come on Jim, I know you're in there!" Kim shouted, desperation covering her features as she ran towards him. "Fight it Jim! You can do it, you're more than capable. You're a Possible remember? Anything's possible for a Possible!"

"Sorry Kimberly Ann Possible, but I'm afraid that Jim is not here right now." If the face was causing her psychological trauma, the voice magnified it tenfold. Coming out of wickedly curled lips, it was much deeper than usual and dripped in pools with every dark emotion his face had shown them and more.

"Possible, get back! There is nothing you can do for him right now!" Magneto stated, his voice as hardened as his face as he flew up to Jim's level. "I will handle this."

"The powerful mutant of magnetism! I've been itching for this fight." The smirk grew even darker right before Jim's hand whipped up and the Phoenix' talons instantly followed suit, right for Magneto.

Magneto instantly responded, throwing up his own hands. The air around him rippled as the magnetic field was warped to form a force field around him before the talon could reach. The rippling increased dramatically at the Phoenix' fiery foot crashed into it flames dancing around it and a constant string of strained grunts came from the master of magnetism, but surprisingly to everyone watching, the shield actually held strong.

The shock was even evident on Jim's face for a moment. However, a moment was it. The smirk grew right back almost instantly, accompanied by another bird cry as the Phoenix flared its wings a little and tightened its talon's grip on the bubble. The resulting gasp from Magneto was clearly heard by all as the fire talons pierced right through it before spinning around and throwing him right into the jet.

CRASH!

The combined force and the nature of his magnetic energy resulted with him ploughing right through the jet and had it fall to pieces right on top of him.

Gasping and terrified, Kim took a few steps toward the plane, her conscience demanding to help, while Drakken took a lot of steps back, desperate to stay as far from the Phoenix as he could.

"AAHHHH!" Neither got far however, for less than two seconds later, Magneto's furious scream was pounding their ears, accompanied by the loud bangs of metal against metal as all of the jet pieces shot at the Phoenix with the speed of a cannon ball.

Unfortunately, the Phoenix wasn't worried in the slightest. In fact, before Magneto was even visible, its wings were already following Jim's arms back before flapping hard, releasing a powerful flamethrower the second they met. The metal stood no chance and was blown to dust as the flames travelled onto a horrified Magneto. It was only a last minute force field that saved him from the same fate as the flames crash down and exploded.

"AARRGghh!" The intensity of the blast ripped his shield to shreds and sent him flying across the area before coming down with an audible thump. It was only the weak groan that left his lips as his body rolled fast through the bushes that the others even knew that he was still alive.

"Please don't tell me that that thing just took down the greatest heavy hitter that I have ever met within twenty seconds!" Dr Drakken cried, falling into a full blown panic attack as he turned to Kim, desperately wanting him to tell him he was wrong.

"I'd love to, but I doubt you've met a stronger man than Magneto." Kim replied shakily, starting to hyperventilate herself. That was just not possible! Magneto, the most feared mutant in the world, one of the most powerful of all, was thrown around like a rag doll. If he was so easily defeated, what hope did anyone have?

"GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE" Drakken's screech would of had Kim clamping her hands over her ears if she wasn't still in so much shock as he turned and hightailed it, blubbering like a baby. Unfortunately for him, his idiotic screams instantly drew the Phoenix' attention away from Magneto and squarely on to him.

The smirk of a predator triumphantly catching its prey was firmly plastered on Jim's face as the Phoenix swooped by. Gasping in pure fear as one of its fiery wings missed her by mere inches, Kim didn't even have a chance to shout before the Phoenix was right over Drakken, its foot coming right down for the kill.

"AAAAHHHH!" Drakken never stood a chance. Within a second, he was consumed into the fiery avian body.

"No." It barely came out as a whisper. Kim was confident that he wasn't dead, just taken inside and hidden like the others had been, but that was what her mind was telling her. Her eyes simply screamed that she'd just watched a man die the horrible of being burnt alive and that she had done nothing to stop it. Now she was truly sure that she knew how Jim felt. To be so scared that the Phoenix had harmed someone and so powerless to prevent it, only hear the victim's blood curdling screams.

She didn't have the luxury of mulling it over however, for the Phoenix swung around right for her without so much as breaking stride. Fortunately for her, she'd watched his previous attacks and her mimicry ability had memorised his attack patterns despite the fact that she could do them, allowing her to predict his move and cleanly dodge to the left.

Landing on her hands, she quickly flipped out of the way of the Phoenix' flapping wing before diving into a slide as it turned back for her and successfully made it through in between the Phoenix' feet before rolling to the side fast to avoid the tail feathers brushing the ground as the bird changed its course upward.

"This has actually been an interesting day." Kim hissed under her breath as the Phoenix called down to her, its actual head release another, almost amused sounding, screech to match the tone leaving her brother's smirking mouth. "Two people with the ability to make me actually put in a little effort. It's rare to find someone in such skill, yet you're the third I've come across in a human week. How intriguing."

"If you're so great, why are you hiding behind a thirteen year old boy like a coward?" Kim shouted, grateful for the adrenaline running through her veins and helping her suppress her nerves and shakiness.

"You think me a coward?" Phoenix asked, throwing his head back and letting loose a barking laugh. "You have guts, I'll give you that. To say such things to a God. But no, I am no coward. This boy's vast knowledge of this world and all the machines and super humans is invaluable and his developing telepathic abilities promise to be advanced and powerful. A valuable tool for my plans."

"You mean besides random destruction?" Kim retorted, trying to keep this up. If she could keep the Phoenix occupied with this seemingly new urge to talk, Jim might be able to take control again before he has three more abductions on his conscience. "I haven't seen any evidence of a plan!"

"The best plans are the ones that stay hidden from the enemy. A quote from the mind of the precious brother you wish to save. Not that it matters, your time is now up." With that, the Phoenix flapped its wings and sent down multiple streams of fire.

Kim was barely able to dodge any of them. They came down fast and hard, close together and sent flares flying upward every time they hit the ground. It was only her great amount of experience dodging laser fire from Drakken or the Seniors' security systems and robots that she was able to avoid them at all and total avoidance was completely impossible. She almost constantly had to fight the urge to flinch or rub an arm or leg as sparks skimmed her skin.

As a result, she had not time to or options to even attempt to use as the bird claw came down on her and she knew no more.

With a cry of victory, the Phoenix took a moment to bask proudly under the sun and revel in the panic of the town its appearance had caused before taking off in the air, Jim, like both of the latest victims, once again completely hidden by the flames. All that remained in the area a moment later were a few weapons parts, the Kimmunicator that must have fallen off Kim's wrist during the fight, her discarded bags and the one unconscious mutant left behind.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> And that wraps that up. I've managed to complete another chapter, so I'll see you soon.

_CajunBear73_, Ron hasn't shown up yet because I had an idea for him later. If I brought him in now, he'd haven simply been captured with Kim, his loyalty to her wouldn't allow him to be far enough away from her to avoid it.


	14. Chapter 14

**Parlour Of The Slayers**

The newly formed quadruped had been in New York city for a week. Unfortunately, it hadn't done them much good.

Haley joining the team had definitely excited the boys. She had a sweet, but cocky air to her that kept all of the boys happy and amused when they'd unwind from the day's events. She seemed fascinated to learn all about Tim's inventions and, as her dragon trainer was Sun Park, she had plenty of experience with meditation, resulting in a lot of conversations and practice of techniques with Aang. She hadn't really connected too well with Jamie, not finding anything in common with him, but he did have a knack for cheering her up with his goofy shenanigans with his duplicates. They could think for themselves, so if they were made without a specific focus or intention, they tended to get a little out of their creator's control. Haley still laughed when three clones he'd made in his sleep covered the original's face in shaving cream. There was a picture of the moment when they were doing it and one where he'd woken up and dropped his jaw in shock and outrage that were going on the internet.

But it was more than just her personality and friendship that had them thrilled. Haley's involvement had opened doors they hadn't even known existed on their mission. Every day since they'd met, Haley had taken them to every inch of the hidden magical community in New York City that she could think of in search of information.

The elves apparently were great at creating magical devices. Unfortunately, anything they tried to make to track the phoenix blew up, unable to handle the sheer amount of power the bird possessed.

Aang was reminded greatly of the spirit world back home when he saw the magical market in search of a lead. Jamie dragged the young monk around almost as fast as the wind could, pointing and marvelling excitedly over all the different magical creatures. It wasn't until he'd kicked over a gnome, head butted a fairy's entire body and made Aang freak over the possibility that the duplicator had accidentally offended a woman with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a spider that Jamie finally conceded to calming down. No harm done to the spider woman though, she just brushed it off with a smile and went on to answer every question flustered, out of breath Haley asked her. His other two victims were annoyed, but got over it quickly too as they watched him. The market place had been full of so many different creatures that both boys could never quite wipe the looks of wonder on their faces. After staring into eyes of bright, curious, albeit apologetic grey and wonder filled, innocent blue, most of the crowd simply made sure to give them space. Even the fairy Jamie hit was rather happy to be marvelled at like a work of beauty after Jamie apologised. The gnome was moody, but what can you do?

They even went to the village of giants nearby and the park where some of the more solitary magical creatures conducted a little business. They talked to a wizard that had been going to school with Haley's older brother. They even tried talking to a trio of witches that ran a spells shop.

Unfortunately, while the boys were fascinated by what they saw with every trip, none of them turned up any useful leads. The best they got was an image of Jim in a forest somewhere. They had no idea where he was or how he was coping, but Tim still managed to get some solace from it and thanked the woman projecting the image anyway. At least they knew that Jim was still ok.

The mundane methods weren't of much help either. Tim had been keeping track of every news report and related file appearing on TV and the net involving the Phoenix. The fire bird had made appearances on three separate days they'd met Haley and every one had ended the same: an explosion upon its arrival before flying randomly over large distances. By the time that he'd managed to piece sightings and information suggesting the Phoenix' presence, the stupid bird had already taken over and flown off for another random trip to who knew where. The only good thing that came out of it was that only a few disappearances had been reported. Unfortunately, Kim was one of them. The only other one reported was a mutant calling himself Pyro. He was a terrorist known for working for Magneto and for being a pyromaniac. According to the news footage, the Phoenix showing up in Paris had him running right to it with glee, only for him to try and control the flames and get snatched up by fiery talons.

Tim had only grown more desperate for answers when he found out about Kim. It was around that time that he remembered that his Timmunicator was buried at the bottom of his bag and he pulled it out immediately. It was a direct link to Wade and surely he'd know something. However, he'd barely made the connection when Wade freaked on him.

"Tim! Don't call, we're being tapped. I'll call you when it's safe!" With that, the line went dead and Wade had made no attempts to call them since. Tim didn't even know who was tapping the line, how they could or why it was so dangerous, though he could make a couple of guesses. Drakken and Global Justice were the most likely choices, though he doubted Drakken. The weirdo had gone quiet ever since the invasion. Still, it only left them with the feeling that they had a set of unwanted eyes watching the group.

...

It was a very sombre group of kids sitting around a dining room table covered in pizza boxes that night. They couldn't even laugh as one of two duplicates Jamie accidentally made leaning back in his chair too far decided to put pineapple pieces into the other's ears. Not in the mood for their mischief, Jamie simply reabsorbed them.

"So, what do we do now?" Aang asked sadly, nibbling at a slice of his vegetarian pizza without really eating it as he stared at the piece of paper lying nearby on the floor. It was a list of every magical and technological lead Haley and Tim could come up with. The only one not crossed out was military satellites, but that had been deemed too risky. Tim could get in with a normal computer, but he'd be caught in an instant and his control over his ability, though having improved a little with assistance and advice from all three of his friends, was still way too far from perfect to try it. He'd probably send the satellites on a direct course to the ocean or the sun if he tried, assuming he didn't simply make the computer he used to overload or fall to pieces. Both were possibilities for the satellites too. That was a bit too much of a risk for a database that had a million guns to point their way and a low chance of gaining any useful info.

"Not much we can do." Tim muttered, sinking into his seat. He hadn't touched a single slice yet. "The Phoenix wasn't jumping continents when we left the institute, so it's not like our 'blindly follow the birdy' plan's of any use anymore."

"Not that it worked to begin with." Aang sighed, rubbing his temples. "By the time we figure out and go wherever it's been, it'll have already gone elsewhere."

"Tracking it worked once or twice." Jamie mumbled forlornly. "Only it never worked out well for whoever did it. Like the X Men."

"And Kim." Tim nodded in agreement.

Aang had started wondering what they thought they were doing often once word of Kim Possible's dramatic disappearance reached them. Yes, they had a possible answer to save Jim, but none of them could do it. None of them were a telepath. None of them would be able to do any more than tell him to try using his own psychic power. A power he barely knew how to turn off, let alone actually use. It really did seem hopeless. Not that he'd ever say that out loud, Tim needed them to have a chance.

"Tracking him would only have a chance of meeting up with Jim if we had access to high speed, aerial travel." Haley frowned, staring at the table. Gazing dejectedly her way, Aang was about to speak again when her eyes narrowed. She was pondering something. "So then the best method would probably be to know where he's going next."

"And how would we figure that out?" Jamie raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Even I know a random trail when I see one. There's no way to know where it's going."

"With a being like that, anyone with any talent in divination would know." Haley answered, regaining her proud 'I'm smarter than you are' voice as she grinned. "And there are a number of them."

That brought everyone back up from their slouches. Aang actually swallowed a piece of pizza as the boys all stared at her brightly and hopefully. If there were people who could determine where the Phoenix was going to be, then half their problems would be over in an instant. Granted, the part after finding the Phoenix was even harder than meeting up with the damn beast, but they'd cross that bridge when they came to it.

"Why didn't you mention them before?" In any other situation, Tim would have been really annoyed by her withholding information like that, but now it just made him excited to hear it. The young prodigy leaned over the table and was almost right in Haley's face.

"Because the only ones to hang around here are the Oracle Twins and they seem to be out of town at the moment. So, the whole topic was looked over." Haley answered, having the decency to look a little sheepish and apologetic at that.

"So do we have to wait for them to return or do you know how to track them down?" Aang asked, a small frown returning to his face. They'd already lost so much time and the Phoenix had caused so much destruction, pain and disappearances. If they had to sit around and do nothing for the unknown amount of time for seers to show up and help them then he was going to rip his hair out! He couldn't let this keep up, he had to do something. At the very least, he needed to failed at all the stupid ideas sooner so he could find the one that worked. He'd let too much happen back home. He couldn't let this continue here, especially with his friends being so hurt by every action the bird made.

"If they're oracles, why haven't they seen us needing them and come to us already?" Jamie pouted.

"They can't control the visions they get. If they have seen something, and I know that they have, the Phoenix is too big of a deal, it may not have involved us. They may have taken it to a senior dragon or something." Was Haley's response, folding her arms and staring at them in contemplation. "Or they may have freaked and ran for cover. The kind of malice and power the Phoenix has tends to change things."

"Truer word have never been spoken." Aang nodded, quoting the TV as he rubbed his arms sadly. If it wasn't for the Phoenix, he would have been invading the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun and ending the hundred year war for good. Instead, the entire invasion fleet was driven into hiding and he'd ended up in this world, being treated like family by the Possibles before chasing after a mystical deity of fiery destruction.

"Still, it doesn't matter. I know just the place to search for those who study divination." Haley continued before anyone else lost their happiness again. "Hidden from the mortal world's sight is a school for witches and wizards called Vonderland. It's the most unique magical school in the world by far, not that there are many as most families prefer to raise their own or their breeds are low in numbers and scattered, but that's beside the point. If there was anywhere in the world where you could guarantee finding someone capable of helping us, it's there."

"That sounds so cool!" Jamie exclaimed, his smile covering his entire face. "I wonder how similar it is to the Xavier Institute. If wizard schools are anything like mutant ones, then this is going to be a hoot!"

"Yeah, but will they even let us in?" Tim asked hesitantly, not sure he wanted the answer. It sounded great and he was just as keen as Jamie to see what a wizard's school actually looked like, but there was a potential problem. "I mean, only you have any magic and it's not witchcraft. Would they even talk to us?"

"Magical creatures of all kinds can see and enter the grounds, provided the protection spells against dark magic aren't triggered by you and I should be able to get you guys in." Haley shrugged casually, immediately calming Tim and bringing back a hopeful grin. "The only problem with this plan is the school's location."

"Why's that?" Aang asked, tilting his head confusedly.

"It's in Canada." Was the simple response. Too simple. Though Tim immediately caught on and groaned, Aang and Jamie simply stared at them before turning to each other, completely baffled.

"And how is that a problem?" Jamie asked, only to get the world's two most dramatic 'DUH' looks in return.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because it means we have to cross a country boarder, with no adults, no passports and a face exactly like mine on wanted posters?" Tim rolled his eyes, only to sigh when the look the boys were giving him and Haley didn't change. Sheesh, he could understand Aang being lost by this, but Jamie too? "That means we'll be caught and stopped with every method used to enter Canada." He added slowly, like talking to a two year old.

"The X Men manage to cross borders without a problem." Jamie pouted moodily, crossing his arms and offended.

"They have a stealth master jet of their own and adults for when they run into others." Tim sighed, rubbing his temples.

"So Canada's another nation and they guard the whole border?" Aang asked, getting a more patient nod from Haley and Tim in return. That seemed kinda stupid to him. The only border back home that was blocked and guarded was the Fire Nation's. The Water Tribes were wary of people approaching, but that was only because the war posed a constant threat of raids. Before the war started, it was easy for him to travel to every edge of the world. No one ever stopped the Air Nomads. Why create more difficulty when you're in a time of peace.

"Normally, you need a passport and to go through certain procedures to visit another country." Haley explained for both boys' benefit. "As long as you're not carrying illegal goods or have a criminal record, there aren't any real problems getting through at all. However, parental or guardian consent must be declared for kids to travel to the next country, meaning that they have to accompany them either across or at least to buy a ticket for transportation over. None of us have any of that and when they see Tim's face, they'll assume he's Jim, a terrorist, and have us targeted by law enforcement and the military."

"And the last thing we need is another nation's military on our backs." Tim added with a sigh. "The mundane methods will get us caught and Canada's a _really_ good distance from here. "Plus, with our luck, I doubt this school's near the border."

"No, it's well into the country." Haley admitted, earning sighs and irritated groans from everyone. Without transportation, the journey was going to take so long that the Phoenix would probably have burnt half the world to the ground before they even reached the place.

"I wish Uppa came with me." Aang said softly, not even trying to fight the tears falling down his face as he thought of his beloved sky bison. This was the second time he'd been ripped away from his furry life companion and the only reason he felt any better about it than he did last time was because he knew that he was safe with Katara and the others. Still, he missed him dearly. And at this moment, his furry friend could have really helped out.

None of the others said anything to that. Haley and Tim just watched him sympathetically while Jamie wrapped an arm comfortingly around his shoulders. Over the week, they'd all recounted their tales to each other, the good and the bad. They knew all about Uppa and the rest of Team Avatar and how much Aang missed and worried for them. They knew just how much Uppa meant to him in particular. His oldest, most loyal friend.

"We could have just sneaked in as a cloud if he was. Katara and me made it work fine plenty of times before." He said after a minute or two, wiping his tears away and giving the others a small grin.

"Is that still a possibility?" Jamie asked curiously, turning questionably towards the others. "Tim can make machines, couldn't you make something for us to fly on? Or maybe there's magical way we could all fly?"

"I could probably make something, but any radar would catch it." Tim shook his head. "I have no way of knowing where the radar towers even are and I doubt my technopathic range is as long as theirs."

"And to fly at that kind of height and speed, we'd need another dragon or to somehow get a griffon to help us. Neither option's a likely one." Haley sighed, mimicking Tim. "The dragons would tell us to go home and head out to stop Jim their own way and trust me, you don't want them to succeed."

"What would happen?" Jamie asked hesitantly, Aang biting his lip and Tim gulping in fear as they waited for the answer.

"At best, they'll kill him." That brought a round of gasps, tensing whitening knuckles wrapping around the table. And unfortunately, Haley wasn't done. "If not, he'll be sealed away forever with the Phoenix in darkness and misery, wishing he was dead."

"Ok, someone magically pull a solution out of thin air NOW!" Tim shouted, his fists banging on the table. "They are NOT doing that to my brother. THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE NOT!"

"Tim, we're all in agreement that they won't be allowed to do that." Aang said firmly, drawing nods from the others as Tim glared at everything in sight with freaked, watery eyes.

"We'll stop them ourselves if we have to." Jamie stated, punching his hand and creating three duplicates, all of them nodded seriously.

"Exactly. Now calm down." Aang went on, moving to Tim's side and gently pushing him back into his seat. "If we want an answer, then we have to keep cool heads. The answers to life's problems don't just magically appear because we're distressed."

"You're right. Sorry." Tim said softly, taking a deep breath and relaxing into his seat. When he looked up again, he had reverted to his contemplative look, suppressing his troubles and grief. "So if magic's out, the mundane methods of travel are too bustable and our abilities alone aren't sufficient, what's left?"

The group fell into silence once again at that, stuffing their mouths half-heartedly with now cool pizza. What was there left? Well, they each knew a possible way to cross over the border without any problems. The problem was that they either couldn't access them or, where abilities were concerned, at least one of them, Jamie or Tim, would have to be left behind. Probably both, Aang couldn't fly real long distances without his glider. If even magic and mutant powers couldn't help here then...

"Anti-magic!" Haley's cry was so sudden, loud and unexpected that all the boys were jolted a foot in the air. Jamie even fell to the ground and kicked the table, the two events each creating four more Multiples.

"Say what now?"

"Jamie, if you multiply much more, we're going to be pressed against the table."

"Sorry Tim." Jamie reabsorbed all his duplicates, smiling sheepishly up at the others as they relaxed before getting back up on his seat. "So, what were you saying Haley?" It was better if he redirected the others' exasperated attention away from him for now. "What's anti-magic?"

"Until not long ago, there was an organisation known as the Huntsclan." Haley started, sitting back in a way that reminded Aang much of the way the Air Temple monks used to sit as they regaled stories or lectures. "For centuries, they terrified all with the gift of magic in their bloodline. They used magical artefacts, sphinx hair and technology alike to track, capture and slay all magical creatures.

"They were defeated about half a year ago when they gathered magical crystal skulls that, when united, had the power to grant the wish of the one in possession of them. They intended to use them to destroy all magical creatures worldwide, but were thankfully stopped by a member turned spy for our kind. Rose then used the skulls to eradicate the Huntsclan instead. There are only three of them left on the entire planet, including Rose, and the other two are nothing worth worrying about."

"Well, at least that's one less side to worry about. Good thing too, considering just how many groups are already after Jim." Tim nodded, though raising a confused and sceptical eyebrow. "But how does that help us?"

"The Huntsclan hunted magical creatures all over the world and had secret bases in every country. And in each of these bases, a teleportation system was set up, capable of connecting to every other base in the world." The superior smirk on her face grew greatly as realisation flickered to life in Tim and Jamie. Even Aang had a basic idea what that meant, having listened to Jamie talk about Nightcrawler repeatedly throughout the week. "One of the bases in America is very close by. Jake's friend Spud could tell us its exact location and then it'll only be a matter of hacking the system and setting the location. We'll be sent straight to Canada without anyone having the slightest clue we did it."

"And we haven't found a system yet that can keep our man Tim out." Jamie beamed, clapping the young science prodigy on the back, getting a happy nod and an eye roll as the action created four duplicates again.

"Ok then, Haley, can you get the location tonight?" Aang asked, getting an 'do you really need to ask' look for his efforts.

"I could have it in five minutes."

"Great, then we'll head out first thing in the morning." He decided, looking over the others. "We get a good night's sleep, use the teleporter and track down this school."

"We could get the information and go now." Tim pointed out, a little indignant at the prospect of waiting. Not that the others blames him for it.

"The bases still have a lot of security and my presence might set it off. We're talking big guns and who knows what else." Haley shook her head. "It's best we go in when there's sunlight at the entrance and we're well rested."

"Hey, my ability-"

"Is a...loose cannon?" Aang interrupted, turning to Jamie questionably to make sure he got the saying right and pressing on as all five of them nodded. "You still cause random problems whenever you try to manipulate machines with your mind. It's too risky for you to do anything more in a place like that than stuff that requires your hands and tools or keyboards."

"Says the guy from the primitive world." Tim retorted, though there was no fire behind it. It was more pouty than anything else.

"I sat him down and put on a sci-fi marathon, remember?" Jamie piped up, bouncing happily on his seat, his letting out huge smiles before being absorbed back into the original.

"Aang's right Tim." Haley crossed her arms, looking at him sadly. "I wanna go as soon as I can too you know. We all do. We all have someone or some place that we want back." The others nodded at that, Jamie calming down quickly once again. "But we need to be careful. The bases have self destruct systems that we can't have you accidentally activating. You'll blow us apart. And we're going to have to face two potentially activated security systems that make even the best the military have look stupid. We'll need to be at our best."

"I get it. The Xavier Institute's defence systems' plans are in my head. If they're anything alike, then we have our work cut out for us." Aang almost flinched at the defeated sigh that left Tim at that. The boy's breakdown was still fresh on the displaced monk's mind and this was a little too close to it for comfort.

"One night isn't very long." He tried, optimism taking over as Jamie and Haley nodded along with him. "And we have a plan that actually looks like it could work now. At the very least, we may find some witches and wizards willing to help save Jim or maybe even some knowledge that could help contain the Phoenix. Who knows what magic these people have?"

"With a library that's more than a thousand years old and holding much older books, you can bet there will be something amazing." Haley agreed, amusing Jamie and Aang as she went starry eyed. "I've always wanted to go there. Vonderland has a greater library than almost anywhere in the world. If it's magical, there's a book all about it on the shelves."

Tim just grinned at her enthusiasm before nodding his consent. They were right of course, on all accounts. Besides, the school wasn't going anywhere and if what Haley was telling them was all true, it was well worth the wait.

Besides, he still had a pizza to eat and no one wasted a perfectly good pepperoni pizza.

...

The rays of dawn were barely up before Tim ran out of Jake's room. His face set in determination, he banged on every door he passed as he walked down to the kitchen. He was intent on rousing the others, the sooner they were up, the sooner they could leave.

Fortunately for all concerned, it didn't take him much. Aang was always up early to meditate and Jamie had grown used to being startled awake for early sessions with Logan or Storm before school. Haley made a point of being an early riser. It was still a bit early even for them, but it wasn't the stretch and grief that it would be for the average teenager to get up.

Still, of the three of them, only Haley managed to actually tidy herself up by the time they'd all reached the kitchen and set up a quick breakfast. Dressed and groomed, she spent the whole quiet affair smirking and giggling at the ruffled, bedhead sporting boys, Jamie and Aang looked at each other the first time she did it, but just shrugged and went back to grabbing a waffle and a glass of milk respectively.

Tim on the other hand, was set to go. The technopath had grabbed a banana and left the kitchen before the others had even arrived. When he came back five minutes later, he actually managed to get the others to stop and stare.

"Wow dude, you're packin." Jamie was the first to comment, others simply nodding in agreement.

"Well, dangerous hideouts, who knows what on the other side and, as you guys like to point out, a mutant ability that might kill us if I get into more than its most basic trick. Best to be prepared." Was Tim's response, getting light nods and general motions of agreement in return.

It wasn't a great deal more than he'd worn before. The clothes themselves were his old Team Possible mission look. He'd packed them on a whim before leaving home. However, unlike before, not everything was hidden in the compartments of his utility belt or pockets. The holster at his side bore his magnetic laser. What looked like metal bracers were wrapped around each of his forearms. The right one looked like it was a small grappling hook launcher while the left looked like it wasn't finished yet, like there was room to attach something. Finally, a couple of gadgets, or rather pieces of one, were strapped to each of his thighs and one gadget piece each was strapped to his upper arms.

"Couldn't your toys stay in your backpack if they don't fit in your belt and huge pockets?" Haley asked, tilting her head warily as she stared him over. After all, the backpack in question was still strapped in place over his shoulders. "If things get dicey, aren't you risking their safety out in the open like that?"

"No, finding them in my bag would waste too much time. Besides, each of these is made to handle a bit of concussion, so they should be fine." Tim shook his head sharply, a little offended by the toy comment. They were his creations, designed by him and Jim themselves to aid them in competing with and even potentially exceeding Kim's abilities and tools. They were amazing, high tech pieces of machinery that the twins had put everything they had into creating, not toys.

"Well ok, just don't cry when they get broken." Haley shrugged before finishing her meal and skipping off to the bathroom while the boys shovelled down the rest of theirs, awkwardly ignoring Tim's irritated look following the dragon as it was turned on them.

"Settle down Tim. We won't be long." Aang said softly, but firmly as Jamie created a duplicate that took both boys' dirty dishes to the sink as they rose. "We only need to suit up and we're outta here."

"Don't you need to put on your makeup?" Tim asked, doing as his friend asked and taking a mellowing breath as he stared pointedly at the arrow marking Aang's head. "We'll be going into public on the way to this base."

"Not this time. My tattoos will all be covered by my clothes." Aang grinned, already walking to the stairs. "After all, you're not the only one intending to be prepared. Suits for Fire Nation school kids have to be pretty decent stuff. After all, a kid's always in danger of amateur Firebending and falling to the ground. My vest is so thick and durable that it's almost armour."

"And it comes with a headpiece?" Jamie asked, frowning as he followed. "That might get you noticed in the streets. Depending on what it is."

"Oh, please, it's New York City. No one will notice if you go out there wearing a toga." Haley butted in on her way back down. The girl was almost ridiculously fast at the morning rituals.

_If only Kim could figure out how to do that._ Tim thought as he gave in and took a seat in the lounge room, double checking his pockets, belt and their packed bags while he was waiting. _Not that she ever made it to the bathroom before me and Jim or anything._ He added with a small grin as many morning memories crossed his mind, all of them depicting Kim being annoyed by how long they were taking or because they left her with so little hot water.

By the time that Haley had gone around the house and ensured that everything was off and locked, both the other boys had joined them by the door, Aang tying his bandana around his forehead on the way down the stairs and Jamie readjusting his jumper hiding the top half of his uniform. It was time to leave.

"You know, we don't have to take all your bags." Haley said as they each rested one bag on their back with the boys also picking up a duffle bag or, in Jamie's case, the folded up tent. "I mean, we'll be using the teleportation system to get back into America later, right? We could leave some of the less necessary stuff here instead of lugging everything around."

"Yeah, but if something goes wrong, America may not be the first country we travel from Canada too." Tim sighed gravely. This plan was their best shot in a while, but he wasn't going to get too optimistic until it worked. Xavier and the X Men should have worked after all.

"And we don't know how far from the school we'll end up reappearing." Aang nodded in agreement. "Countries are big and we don't have any guarantee of transportation. We may need the tent and supplies."

"I guess you have a good argument." Haley conceded, following the others out the door before locking it with an audible click. "Let's go." With that, she headed down the street, setting a fast pace that was just slow enough to ward off any more suspicion than the minuscule amount their group's fashion sense and luggage got them in New York City.

Lowering his baseball cap lower over his face, Tim followed on, an excited grin covering his face. Even if his faith in the plan's ultimate success was in question, they were going to two technological gold minds. Imagine what he and his ability could gleam from places like that. And since the Phoenix was a mystical creature itself according to Haley's recounting of her knowledge, anti-magic weapon just might be able to give them an edge in stopping the fiery pain in the butt.

Yes, there was definitely some things to be excited about.

...

"I still don't think Jake would approve of this Haley."

Haley just resorted to rolling her eyes as she stared down at the giant metal structure hidden within the rocky terrain and giant trees. It wasn't the first time they'd heard that today. More like the eightieth.

Spud and Trixie had both come along to lead the way, but they only gave in to the plan after Haley had declared that if they didn't then she'd simply look for another, most likely more dangerous way to get to the school. Without powers of their own or access to authority figures capable of bringing them in line, they didn't really have much choice. They did however, demand that they had to stay with the older pair the whole way through the bases. Supervision was the best that they could do.

None of the teens really minded though. If the older duo kept an eye on the bases, then they'd be safer to come back to when the mission was over.

"Sooo, how do we enter?" Multiple asked, raising a curious eyebrow as he stared down at the absolutely huge metal door and motion sensor lasers moving around.

"Take out the security first and foremost." Trixie exclaimed, her tone reeking of the word 'duh' as she pointed around the area. "This is the one place on earth the Huntsclan loser duo still chill. And it looks like they're home."

"Well, that's easy enough." Tim grinned, immediately drawing worried looks from the others. Use of his powers, even from out there, could be catastrophic to their plan. However, before anyone could voice their concerns, the Possible twin turned brightly to Aang. "I've been hoping for a chance to see what you can really do. You almost always use air."

"I saw him shake the ground once." Multiple said excitedly with a nod. "But other than that, it's always been wind. Show us what you've got Avatar."

"If you insist. Give me some space." Tensing his body into an unyielding stance, Avatar waited just long enough for the others to take two or three steps back before kicking the ground hard and sending four large boulders into the air before him. Before they could so much as pass his head, Avatar leapt into a spin and unleashed fast and brutal punches and kicks at each one, sending each boulder surging through the air like they had been shot out of a cannon. The motion sensors on the highest reaches of the front side of the base didn't even have time to fire before a boulder had crashed into each one and shattered them all.

Aang didn't stop there though. Before the dust could settle, Haley and the others found themselves watching in amazement as stone flew up from the ground and wrapped around the Avatar's entire body like armour before the earth at his feet flew up and tossed him like a catapult.

"Wow. That armour's complete and solid all over, but he's moving like it's not there at all." Haley marvelled as they watched him come down. All the remaining lasers out front were pointed right at him by the time he landed, but the second his form hit the ground, his arms flung out and the ground all around him was ripped apart. Chunks of earth flew up into the perfect positions block all but one laser blast from the boy, the last of which was easily blocked by his armour, before the shattering ground spread right out to the high fence mounting most of the remaining weapons and sent it crashing down. Not even bothered as the next round of laser fire blew chunks of rock away from his armour, Aang stomped and thrust his arm up, first left, then right, and brought up diagonal chunks of earth from the ground, stopping the growth of the new formations only after they each hit another laser. The last few were wiped out not a moment later as Aang slammed his hand into one of his new rock pillars and had earth spears flying out of the top and striking every last metal weapon left right in their barrels and causing them to blow up.

"Now that boy's got it goin on." Trixie smirked, very impressed as the group headed down to join him. "Even...Jakey was never that accurate." She added, her breath hitching sadly as what happened to her friend returned to her mind.

"You're sure that Jake's ok, right?" Spud asked, growing just as sad as Trixie. It reminded Haley that she wasn't the only one hurting and worried here. After all they'd been through, Jake, Trixie and Spud were like siblings too and without Jake, they were just as lost as she and her new friends had been. "He's really still alive, right?"

"To the best of our knowledge." Aang nodded, offering a sympathetic smile. "We'll let you know as soon as it's confirmed."

"If you do the same for us." Haley added, crossing her arms and tilting her head up, looking seriously right into their eyes. "I know you guys well enough to know that while you're babysitting the base, you're going to be tapping into every computer and searching system it's got. We tell you what we find, you tell us what you find."

"Well, of course Little Drag." Trixie responded crossing her arms and leaning down to Haley's face with a smirk. "After all, what good would the info be to us without your help? We ain't magical or mutants ya know!"

"If we were, we'd be running into the front lines with you." Spud nodded, throwing Haley off with just how serious he was being. That almost never happened period and Haley had never been there to witness it before Jake disappeared. Even when they fought the Dark Dragon in Hong Kong, he'd still been his usual goofy self. It was just so anti-Spud that she didn't have the slightest clue how to handle it, with the sole exception being to wish she could see the old Spud back. "We still would, but with the skills and powers you guys have, we'd probably just get in the way. So don't worry about that, we'll help you in every way we can from the sidelines."

"We are very grateful for all that you can provide us with." Aang bowed respectfully, getting slightly more awkward ones from the older teens in return as Tim moved up to the door.

Letting his ability guide him, he walked straight to one side of the door and pushed his palm onto a seemingly solid wall only for a panel to sink in and slide away, revealing a scanner.

"Place slayer mark before scanner." A computerised voice stated as the screen flared to life.

"It's after the dragon birthmark? Well, that might be a problem." Trixie grunted, resting a hand on her hip irritably.

Paying her no mind, Tim placed his bag on the ground and pulled out a small device with a few cords and a small keyboard. Pulling his magnetic laser from its holster next, he aimed it at the scanner and activated in at a low setting and ripped the front of it right off, exposing the circuitry inside.

"Well, that beats using a screw driver." Trixie winced, covering her ears from the loud band of the metal falling from the laser and clattering along the concrete ground. "You know, as long as you're not going for the subtle approach."

"Destructive and chaotic is more fun." Jamie said happily, getting a smirk from Tim as he connected the cords into the circuitry and typed away on his keyboard. Not half a minute later, he had bypassed three security responses and whooped triumphantly.

"Access granted. Welcome Huntsmaster." The New Yorkers all stared at Tim, shocked and very impressed, as the doors opened, revealing a well lit, albeit empty and windowless, room.

"You made that thing think you were the Huntsmaster?" Spud cried, relaxing Haley a little as his happy, excitable nature peeked through once again. "Dude, that is some mad hacking. You have to teach me how you did it some time."

"With pleasure. I'll even reprogram the next base to think that you're the Huntsmaster, give you full control over the place." Tim smiled mischievously, walking in quickly and calmly, much unlike the more wary steps the others were taking. Noticing it, the boy turned and smirked back as he kept going, uncaring of what was ahead. "Guys, relax. This place thinks the Huntsmaster opened the door and I shut down all extra security while I was at it. we're safe."

"Until twinkle dumb and twinkle dumber figure out what you did." Trixie muttered, but picking up her pace a little all the same.

"If you call them that, how dangerous could they be?" Jamie asked, looking around curiously, but carefully as he joined Tim up the front. Wolverine's lectures and drills had him watching for details, but he was still quite happy to move around at a careless pace.

"On their own? Not very." Trixie waved off. "But unfortunately, the Huntsclan made plenty of toys that turn even the most pathetic wielders into something to be wary of."

"And this place may still be booby trapped. This place was used to train and horribly punish new recruits." Spud cautioned. He had actually been there before and remembered all too well how he'd entered. He'd almost been killed within a minute of entering with that obstacle course of doom.

"If it's a training ground for beginners, just how bad could it possibly..." Aang started only to scream as a giant, spiked disc shot up out of the ground just inches away from Tim and Jamie and started spinning fast. Gasping, the boys' stumbled back and barely managed to get out of the way as its stand started swinging too, attempting to cut them in half.

"Now you know how they welcome new recruits." Spud exclaimed right as more lasers, swinging blades and spike covered bludgeons flew out from all over the place.

"Then how exactly did their Order survive so long?" Aang cried as he and Haley, in a flash of flames, leapt into the air and ahead of the rest. Taking a quick breath, Haley unleashed a flamethrower at the same time Aang lashed out with a wind vortex, the flames melting or blowing up a lot of the equipment on their left ripped out and blew away most of the weapons to the right. Flying around and kicking off a wall respectively, Haley and Aang dodged the remaining projectiles with ease while Multiple shielded the ground bound group with his duplicates. Meeting again in mid air, both elementals took deep breaths, Aang spinning his hands around until they were brought up around his mouth, and blew fire and wind as hard as they could, the two streams mixing and creating an enormous flame that melted every weapon left in the room.

"Wow. I'm sure to be amazed or terrified." Trixie said uncertainly, eyeing the melted and shattered security system warily before turning as Aang took another deep breath.

Letting it out, he coated the ground with cold air, quickly cooling the heated floor before grinning at his work.

"Amazed. Definitely amazed." Multiple grinned as he marched ahead, Tim chuckling and Spud nodding in agreement as they went on. Feeling quite proud of herself, Haley flew on ahead. After all, if another trap went off, it was better the others had more warning. It wasn't like she needed it. When she got in the air she was almost completely untouchable. Who could possibly be better?

...

Deep within the base, the happy mood had not spread. In fact, it was amazing the invading team hadn't heard the panic stricken screams. They would have made a group of banshees impressed.

"What do we do, what do we do, what do WE DO?"

"I don't know, I don't know, I DON'T KNOW!"

Two boys, not likely to be any older than Aang, were running around before a large monitor like chickens with their heads cut off. Both clad in purple and black Huntsclan uniforms, one of them was a short, chubby boy of African descent with the number 88 on his arm while the other was a slightly taller, lanky Caucasian with the number 89.

"They'll be here any minute!" 88 shouted, stopping long enough to look at the monitor. It depicted the group running into another trap, this time a hole filled with rising spikes, but Multiple simply duplicated and yanked everyone back from it while took what looked like a pen from his belt and fired a laser beam of his own, cutting through every spike. Now blunt, the remains were simply used to hop across to the other side. "We gotta get out of here!"

"What? We can't do that! Imagine how bad our rep will fall if we flee from our own base. Before we even see the enemy?"

"Dude, what rep?" 88 shouted, his feet finally coming to a halt only for his arms to fly wildly above his head. "The smallest and weakest magic creatures look down on us and laugh! And have you looked at who's coming?" He added, pointing at the screen. "One's wearing the clothes of a member of Team Possible, one's marked with the X Men's symbol, one's a dragon and another has power over wind AND earth! We couldn't even take down a single dragon with the best weapons the Huntsclan ever made! How do you expect to handle all that!" Conveniently, for his point at least, the X Man had grabbed the laser pen from the Possible and multiplied by ten before firing and destroying every new security weapon coming out of the walls before they could fire any more than one shot, all of which were avoided.

"Man, that X Man is a one man army. Literally." 89 admitted with a gulp, what little bravado he had disappearing along with the duplicates. Still, he wasn't about to let go of the single shred of dignity he had left. "So we'll activate all our big toys and blow them away the second they enter this room."

Not waiting for a reply, he ran to the far wall and placed his slayer birthmark under the scanner and waited for the 'Huntsclan mark confirmed' voice to raise the wall, revealing all of the Huntsclan's most dangerous weapons. "Let's see how they handle-"

"They're HERE!" 88 barely got his scream out before a BOOM resounded though the room and the door, now bearing a deep impression of a dragon foot, crashed to the ground with a bang.

"AAHHH! Quick, grab the-" Running, 89 reached for large device designed to be strapped to the back, but before he could so much as touch it, Tim whipped up his arm and fired his grappling hook right into its side, eliciting a terrified scream from the taller slayer. With the push of a button, the hook was quickly retracted, ripping the device along with it back toward the group as Multiple ran ahead and jumped yanking it from the air and off the hook, the momentum causing him to spin. Easily moving it onto his back, he created four duplicates as he landed, all five Multiples holding up the connected laser guns at the Huntsclan misfits' general direction.

"Oh ma-AHH!" 88 shouted, running as fast as he could to the weapons alongside 89, only to stumble back as Avatar ran before them faster than they could see, fierce winds blowing around him as he pressed his fists together.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you." Aang said calmly. For all the power he was using, his form was completely relaxed. It only made the boys even more terrified.

"AAHHH!" Screaming, 88 turned and ran back towards the computer, hoping to get some of the lowered security back online, only to come face to face with a smirking, pink dragon. "AAAAHHHHH! DRAGON!"

"The pride of the Huntsclan, these two." Trixie rolled her eyes, she and Spud dropping the groups' bags as they entered the door.

"Behold the terrifying slayers of all things magical." Spud exclaimed dramatically, sweeping his arms out like a king would to his proud men.

"W-w-w-w-what are y-you going to do t-to us?" 89 stuttered, shivering shamelessly, shrinking into himself. They were weapon-less, outnumbered and all round outclassed. He had nothing to fake bravado with.

"With you?" Multiple glared, down at them, getting high pitched squeaks in return before it turned into a big grin. "Nothing."

"T-th-th-then why are-"

"We intend to use your teleporter." Trixie snapped, irritably. She didn't like playing pack mule to the boys' bags and these snivelling twits always got on her nerves. "Now shut up and you'll be fine."

"Though we'll have to do something about all this weaponry." Tim grinned mischievously, already moving up before the computer and typing away rapidly. "Little boys with no supervision, playing around with all this dangerous equipment? You could hurt yourselves. Better fix that."

"You dare patronise the Huntsclan?" 88 shouted indignantly, only to quickly fall back into quivering terror as Haley snorted smoke in his face. "W-what are you d-doing?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just locking down security and..." Tim started lightly, hitting a button and bringing a scanner out of the wall. A moment later, it was scanning Multiple.

"New identity data accepted." Both Huntsclan boys paled considerably as the computerised voice made that declaration.

"Making it so only a mutant signature, along with a password, can open your weapons vault." Tim finished with a smirk as the wall hiding the weapons came down again.

88 and 89 could do nothing but helplessly watch as all their best weapons were sealed away, tears and blubbering cries coming from both of them.

As he watched the wall once again meet the ground, a deep, all consuming rage surged through 89. How dare he? How dare he take away what was rightfully theirs! He was going to make the Possible boy pay! He was gonna...

"Aaahhh..." Screaming, he charged right at Tim, his fists poised to strike...only to have his ankle ensnared by a dragon tail and ripped from under him. All his rage got him was a face plant and a possibly broken nose.

"Do yourself a favour and stay down." Haley smirked, towering over him as he looked up at her with fear and hate. "You two are only still alive because you run away. A lot."

"I'm about done here." Tim called, typing a final command into the computer before shutting it down. "All security measures at the next base related to identity have been deactivated. I can shut off the rest as soon as we're in."

"Ok, so where do we teleport from in this ugly metal eyesore?" Trixie asked before pointing to the bags. "And FYI, I am not carrying those again. The man is supposed to carry the woman's bags, not the other way around.

"Hey, women wanted equality. That means equal work too." Tim retorted playfully as Spud moved over to a pair of pillar-like metal rods on the far side of the room.

"This is it." He called, gathering everyone over, Multiple creating duplicates to restrain the Huntsclan boys and grab the bags on the way. Activating a consol next to a rod, he set to work, bringing up every possible destination. "With this system, we can travel to any continent on Earth. Even Antarctica!"

"What do they chase down there, polar bears?" Multiple frowned confusedly, crossing his arms.

"Those are in the north Multiple." Haley rolled her eyes, getting an embarrassed 'oh yeah' from the young mutant as he scratched the back of his head. "There are some magical creatures down there, mostly under the ice covering the sea. A few small pockets live more inland though."

"Though I doubt that the Phoenix is gonna go after them any time soon, so let's ponder the frozen south later." Tim broke in, sidling up beside Spud as the human prodigy set to work on lessening the scale. Within seconds, it was focused on the bases hidden in North America. It then went on to display only the bases in the USA and Canada, though there still quite a number of them.

"Which base is closest to your destination Haley?" Spud asked, pulling away and letting the dragon girl in.

"There." Haley answered half a minute later, pointing to a dot a little inland on the Eastern side. "It's only a day or two's walk from there if my geography's right. Which it usually is." She added proudly, puffing up her chest.

"You want the magic school!" 88 cried, startling the others only to try and shrink into his clothes as everyone stared at him.

"What do you know about it?" Haley growled, turning every bit of intimidation on the pathetic excuse for a slayer. "What did the Huntsclan do there?"

"NOTHING! I SWEAR!" 88 screamed, shaking his head vigorously. "It was too well protected and filled with far too many witches and wizards, not to mention the half breeds within their ranks and the other creatures roaming about. The Huntsclan knew that it wasn't ready to confront the school, so they just kept an eye on it from a safe distance."

"Too bad." Haley sneered before turning back to the screen as Spud set the coordinates. "If you had made a move on the school, you would have had countless magical creatures being led by wizards and those wizard half breeds coming after you. It would have ended the Huntsclan so much sooner."

"Anyway..." Spud called, smiling as the rods came to life, humming as they charged. "It's time to go. Who wants to go first?"

"ME!" Multiple shouted, running straight up front. Waiting just long enough for Spud to give the ok, he stepped between the rods with the duplicates holding the bags and was wrapped in energy expelled from them, disappearing a second later.

His disappearance caused his remaining duplicates to disappear a moment later, but all 88 and 89 did in response was run away screaming for their mommies, so the others just kept going, Aang, Trixie and Haley making up the next group. Finally, Spud set the machine one last time and walked through with Tim. With the last flash of energy, the last of the party had disappeared not only from the base, but the country itself.


End file.
